Above: In Nepal, an eight-year-old
girl is brought to safety by
a rescue worker following
a landslide at Surumkhim
village, Taplejung District,
some 360km east of the
capital, Khatmandu.
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The President of the Grand Charity,
Raymond Lye, has approved payment of an
emergency grant of £10.000 to the British
Red Cross in response to an emergency
appeal for funds to help those affected by
flooding in India, Bangladesh and Nepal.
He has also approved a grant of £5,000 to
the Cornwall Masonic Benevolent Fund in
response to an emergency appeal for funds
following the flooding in Boscastle, Cornwall.
The Provincial Grand Lodge of Cornwall
is organising an appeal to all Freemasons, and
the Grand Charity grant will be added to the
total sum raised by the Province.
The South Asia floods, the worst to
hit South Asia in more than 17 years, have
claimed more than 1,800 lives and affected
more than 50 million people.
The International Federation of
Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies
have launched an appeal for more than
£4 million to help at least 1.5 million
people with food, shelter, clean water
and other essential goods.
Although the floodwaters are now
receding, hundreds of thousands of people
have lost their homes, crops and livelihoods
and many are living in makeshift shelters.
With more monsoon rains forecast, and the
river systems swollen to dangerously high
levels, the situation is expected to deteriorate.
The money raised by the British Red
Cross will directly pay for emergency family
kits comprising kitchen equipment,
blankets, soap, candles and clothing. The
cost of the kits ranges from £8 to £22 and
the £10,000 donation from The Grand
Charity will buy kits for up to 1,250 families.
A grant of 5,000 euros has been made to
the Gran Logia de España for the victims and
survivors of the Madrid train bombing, and
£10,000 to the British Red Cross for the
Darfur, Sudan emergency appeal.
Left: In Cornwall, a flood victim is
winched to safety aboard
an RAF Sea King search
and rescue helicopter
at Boscastle, Cornwall.
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