"Christmas Fundraising Appeal for Women in Malawi

Brentford based charity Microloan Foundation supporting sustainable development

Brentford-based microfinance charity, MicroLoan Foundation, has today announced it is launching a new Christmas fundraising appeal to support some of the poorest women in Malawi, who now are at their most vulnerable as a consequence of food shortage.

In September the World Food Programme issued a warning that over 2.8 million people in Malawi won’t have enough to eat over the coming months as a result of the flooding and drought that ruined the 2015 harvest. This has led to more than 200,000 people being displaced from their homes, with a high probability of a famine to follow.

Donations raised in support of MicroLoan will be matched funded by a generous group of donors, meaning double the funds could be raised to help women and families affected re-gain their livelihoods. The appeal will run in the lead up to Christmas to the 20th December.

MicroLoan Foundation’s CEO and founder, Peter Ryan, said: “With famine a likely outcome from this year’s flooding and droughts there is a crisis in rural Malawi and it is imperative we act to help these women and their families to recover from these disasters, and equip them to cope with the food shortages to come. To do this we need to raise enough money to provide loans that will enable them to rebuild their homes and businesses. This appeal will support our work to provide the women we support with small loans – on average £60 – alongside specialist training to help them weather the crisis and work themselves out of poverty”.

Details of how to donate can be found via the microloanfoundation.org.uk website.

Follow @MicroLoan, and check-out MicroLoan Foundation’s Facebook page.

December 10, 2015