Top businesses lend support to child refugee appeal

Save the Children says it has received a huge level of support from big businesses and leading brands in response to its Child Refugee Crisis Appeal, which has raised more than £3m in just under two weeks.

The appeal has been in response to the vast number of children caught up in the exodus from war-torn countries such as Syria, who are travelling with their famiies and seeking refuge in Europe. 

Companies have shown their support in a variety of ways, from financial donations such as £1m from Visa Europe, to innovative ventures such as UberGiving where drivers collected donated items for free to be sold in Save the Children shops, to companies such as IKEA creating an opportunity for co-workers to “work a day for free” and donate one day’s wages to the appeal.

Save the Children’s ceo Justin Forsyth said: “These are tragic and desperate times for child refugees and their families, children are fleeing bombs, bullets and torture in warzones like Syria, only to drown in European waters. But it’s incredibly humbling to see people come together at a time of crisis and thanks to the generous support of our partners and the public we can do even more to stop children dying on our doorstep.”

Picture credit: © Viorel Dudau | Dreamstime.com
Refugees and migrants, most of them from Syria, at Keleti train station in Budapest, Hungary, 30 August 2015.