Local churches donate £110,000 to charities

The Irish Presbyterian Church, in a gesture this week, donated £60,000 to the emergency response via Christian Aid and Tearfund, the church’s relief and development partners.

It follows a £50,000 donation from the Church of Ireland House of Bishops last week to the two mainstream global Christian charities.

Presbyterian global mission convenor the Rev Dr Liz Hughes confirmed: “Coronavirus knows no borders and is having a growing impact globally with more than 3.5 million people infected and 250,000 having died. It is the poorest countries that are most vulnerable in this pandemic and the outcome could be catastrophic in a matter of months if action is not taken now.”

Dr Hughes, a former missionary, said in parts of southern Africa, already in the grip of a severe drought due to the climate crisis, people are finding their livelihoods wiped out.

“Add a lockdown to the effects of the climate emergency and, for many trying to isolate at home, this may mean starvation.”

“In releasing these funds we know our partners operate in the worst-affected regions, well-placed to work with governments and church leaders. They are striving to ensure that the most vulnerable can be spared the great hardship and grief that this pandemic is bringing. It is our prayer that our response will go some way to help,” added Dr Hughes, a former missionary in Jamaica and now chairperson of Christian Aid Ireland.

Presbyterian moderator, the Rev Dr William Henry, who visited Kenya in February, welcomed the donation. “Our relief and development partners, and partner churches, need whatever support we can give at this time of global crisis.

“While our congregations do what they can to support their local communities at home, it is also important that we look wider and further afield, assisting mission workers on the ground best placed to provide the support that is needed.”

* A survey suggests the Northern Ireland charity sector, taking in a wide range of both faith and secular interests, faces “imminent collapse”. It shows three-quarters of organisations are approaching “a funding cliff-edge” because of the crisis.

Of a £750m government package allocated for struggling UK charities last month, £21m went to charitable organisations in Northern Ireland, representing around £3,400 for each of the 6,000 registered charities here.