I have never written one of these things before but today I am appealing to my friends, family and to the wider community for a very worthy cause and one that’s close to home for my family. Thank you in advance for taking a few minutes to read this.

Even amidst the pandemic we had a lovely Christmas with family and it saddened me deeply to learn of the tragedy in the Philippines, which forced thousands of people to spend Christmas in evacuation centres, having lost their homes, livelihoods and in some cases, much more.

Typhoon Rai (locally called Odette) made landfall in the Philippines on December 16th and ravaged much of the country, affecting more than 8.3 million people in 11 regions in central and southern parts of the Philippines. Almost 1.4 million houses have been damaged with more than 345,000 destroyed, over 570,000 people displaced and more than 400 reported dead, 65 missing and 1,265 injured (source: National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council).

For me this is not just a news story but is something that affects me personally due to the profound effect it has had on my family. I cannot imagine the distress, pain and the sense of total helplessness that many in the Philippines will be experiencing. I have, however, seen first hand the stress it can cause for those Filipinos that are living abroad, worrying about their loved ones back home and wishing they could help.

Many of you will know my partner, Arlene, a Filipina living here in the UK. The last month has been extremely difficult for her. For much of this time she was unable to contact her family to find out if they were ok. We were hugely relieved to hear that her family members are safe but unfortunately, like many others in that area, they have lost much of what they own. Her parents had part of their home destroyed by a falling tree and her aunt, uncle and sister have all lost their homes entirely due to landslides and rising waters. Arlene’s sister was particularly hard hit having lost her home and her business in the storms. She has four children and was left unable to contact any of her family for weeks. The three pictures below are of the homes of Arlene‘s sister, cousin and uncle, respectively.

A month after the Typhoon hit there is no longer much media attention here in the West and for most it is largely forgotten. However, the impacts are still very real and will be felt by many for a considerable time yet. Many places were left without electricity, internet connectivity and access to clean running water and healthcare, meaning that dysentery and other waterborne diseases are a continuing threat. Limited government help is focussed on the more densely populated areas, leaving the more remote towns and villages struggling without aid. The communities in which Arlene’s family live are in remote areas such as these.

I decided to set up this Just Giving page in the hope that you might be able to help us raise money to send to those communities. The money is desperately needed for food, clean water and to rebuild homes.

Our family has privately funded Arlene’s flight to the Philippines where she will personally ensure that all money raised through this appeal will benefit those in her family’s communities with the most need. Where possible she will keep a record of what has been achieved and post this on social media so you can see how your money has helped.

I have set a target of £1000 and it would be truly amazing to reach this but we would be extremely grateful for any amount raised. Please donate if you can, even £1 would help!! Thank you for helping me to do something good, I wouldn’t be able to do it by myself!

Much love,

Nathaniel