Appeal breaks record

The Scottish Church’s aid agency has broken records this year with a Lent appeal attracting donations of £1.7 million.

The total raised by the Scottish Catholic International Aid Fund (Sciaf), however, is doubled to £3.4 million due to the United Kingdom’s Aid Match scheme whereby the Government matches each pound raised.

The Wee Box appeal was launched by the Bishop of Motherwell, Joseph Toal, and supported by singer Susan Boyle and broadcaster Kay Adams.

There is an estimated Catholic population in Scotland of 667,000 with around 185,000 Massgoers.

This year Sciaf is marking its fiftieth anniversary and recently welcomed Baroness Verma, junior Minister at the Department for International Development, to its Glasgow headquarters. She is pictured above (right) with Sciaf’s Philippa Bonella.

Baroness Verma said: “Sciaf may be a smaller charity but they are [sic] making a massive difference to the lives of people in some of the world’s poorest countries.”

She singled out the support the agency’s appeal will give to women farmers in Africa, with efforts concentrated in Malawi, Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Meanwhile, Cafod, the Church’s aid agency in England and Wales, reached its target of £5 million in its Lent appeal, meaning a total of £10 million raised under the UK Aid Match scheme.

The funds will help some of the world’s poorest citizens to rebuild their lives after extreme weather and natural disasters.