Gaza Crisis Appeal Raises £930,000

8 September 2014, 06:05 | Updated: 8 September 2014, 06:26

Almost £1 million has been raised in a month in Scotland to help those affected by the Gaza crisis.

The Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC) said it has been able to reach 1.1 million people with aid, including food, water and medicine, since it launched the fundraising drive in the UK on August 8.

In total, £14 million has been raised in the UK, with £930,000 coming from Scottish donations, DEC said.

The charity thanked those who have given to the fund and supported its work. Tens of thousands of individual donations have been made as well as larger single donations including £10,000 from Renfrewshire Council.

The City of Edinburgh Council has been flying a DEC flag, bearing the donation telephone number, above the City Chambers during the appeal, which will remain open until February.

DEC chair in Scotland Neil Mathers said: "We are very grateful to the Scottish public for their generosity in supporting people affected by the crisis in Gaza, and to the councils and politicians who have backed the appeal.

"Raising money to help those affected by conflict is always challenging but the public have responded and supported us, enabling us to help those in Gaza who are suffering.

"For a family which has lost its home, their need is as great whether the cause is an earthquake or a war.

"Despite significant risks and obstacles, our member agencies and their partners have done an amazing job delivering aid to hundreds of thousands of people whose lives have been torn apart.

"As an uneasy peace holds and the dust settles there is now an enormous amount of work to be done supporting people to rebuild their lives.

"The DEC will continue funding its members for the next two years as they set about this work in Gaza.''

The DEC Gaza Crisis Appeal was launched last month during the first of a series of ceasefires which started to come into force after a month of conflict.

Appeals were made on TV, radio, newspapers and online to fund supplies such as clean water, food, emergency shelter and medical supplies.

The money raised by DEC has been split between other charities working in the area.