Ballywalter’s breakfast for Guatemala
Christian Aid has confirmed the details of its annual Christian Aid Week ‘thank you event’ at which the charity will reveal the total sum raised by its volunteer fundraisers and celebrate their success in bringing hope to people living in poverty and crisis around the world.
One of those due to attend is Marilyn Armstrong who helped raise around £1,000 for Christian Aid Week with a cooked breakfast event hosted by Ballywalter Parish.
Marilyn (pictured 2nd left) was among more than a dozen parishioners of Holy Trinity Church in Ballywalter who prepared and served 100 cooked breakfasts on Saturday 17 May at the parish hall on the edge of the County Down village. The event, which was open to the public, was led by Marilyn and Carol Hall with the support of the Rector, Revd Adrian Green. Ballywalter Parish began holding their annual Christian Aid Week breakfast in 2016, since when they have raised almost £7,500 for the charity.
Christian Aid’s celebration event will be held on Sunday 28 September from 2-4.00pm at St John’s Newtownbreda Presbyterian Church on Belfast’s Ormeau Road. It’s expected that as many as 80 people will attend the event to enjoy refreshments and to learn more about the projects which will benefit from their fundraising.
Christian Aid Week, which ran from 11-17 May, is believed to be the UK and Ireland’s longest running fundraising campaign, having started in 1957. This year’s appeal focused on Guatemala where the climate crisis is bringing harsh droughts and blistering heatwaves, leading to hunger and poverty among Indigenous communities.
Forty per cent of Guatemala’s Indigenous community live in extreme poverty, many without mains water, electricity or network coverage. Most rely on rain-fed farming to make their living but as the climate crisis brings longer and harsher droughts, crops are failing, and hunger follows quickly. Across Guatemala, 46% of children aged under five experience stunting of their growth due to a lack of nutrition in their diet.
Since 2011, Christian Aid has been funding the work of its partner in Guatemala, Congcoop which offers training and tools so that farmers can grow drought-resilient crops, conserve water and create organic fertiliser.
Christian Aid Ireland Chief Executive Rosamond Bennett thanked Ballywalter Parish and all participating churches for their fundraising efforts. She said: “We are hugely grateful to everyone for the gift of their time and for their generous donations. Christian Aid Week is one of the biggest acts of Christian witness on these islands. It’s only with the support of churches that we can reach people living in poverty and crisis.”
To make a donation to this year’s Christian Aid Week appeal, please visit caweek.ie
For more information and to register for September’s Christian Aid Week thank you event, please visit THIS LINK.
Credit: Christian Aid/Lisa Fagan