A major social housing sector appeal to raise funds for victims of the tsunami in the Indian Ocean has raised £10,000 in its first week.

Donations to the Villages of Hope appeal, launched on Monday, include £3000 from the Joseph Rowntree Foundation and the Housing Trust. Staff at the foundation and housing trust pledged £1500, which was matched by their employer.

NHF chief executive Jim Coulter will write to members this week telling them how to donate without infringing Housing Corporation or charity rules and offering guidance on maximising donations through GiftAid, which provides tax breaks for charity donations.

Ken Elliott, chief executive of Sadeh Lok Housing Group, one of the organisations that founded the Villages of Hope Appeal, thought donations would increase once associations had received Coulter’s letter.

Meanwhile 15 local authorities have pledged to second staff to authorities hit by the tsunami. Members of the Local Government International Bureau and the Commonwealth Local Government Forum met local government associations in Sri Lanka and India this week to begin matching UK staff to towns hit by the disaster.

Source

Housing Today

Postscript

To donate: Villages of Hope Appeal, Homeless International, Queens House, 16 Queens Road, Coventry CV1 3DF, 02476 632802, www.homeless-international.org, registered charity no. 1017255