How can you help?

Give Money: This is the easiest and most effective way most people can help

It’s likely that several UK aid agencies will respond to a disaster. They will urgently need money for their work. You should look out for advertisements on TV and radio and in national newspapers. You can also check their websites to find out how you can make a donation. (See websites listed in Contact Points).

If the emergency is big, most of the UK’s major aid agencies will work together under an umbrella organisation called the Disasters Emergency Committee – DEC. The aid agencies save money by advertising for donations as one group. The DEC also publicise their appeals for free on the BBC and independent television channels and radio stations. If you donate money to the DEC or individual aid agencies, you can be sure that it will go to support the disaster relief work in the affected countries. Aid agencies will report back to people that donate money to explain how it has been used.

Check websites: DFID and UK aid agencies post regular updates on disasters

In the response to an emergency, the first few hours and days are crucial. So rather than telephoning DFID or the aid agencies you should check their websites for regular updates about a disaster. This will help their staff to focus all of their attention on the emergency.

Volunteer: If you have specialist skills you could help save lives

People with specialist skills are often required and welcomed to help in the disaster area. If you have the necessary skills and would like to register for work in disaster-affected regions, you can register online with RedR or International Health Exchange (IHE). These agencies match people’s professional skills such as engineering (water, sanitation and mechanical), health, child protection, medical, search and rescue, logistics and telecommunications with the needs in the disaster-affected region. For a full list of professions needed to register with the RedR or IHE go to http://www.redr.org.uk or http://www.ihe.org.uk

However, if you do not have any specialist skills, don’t go to the disaster area because you risk doing more harm than good. There is a high chance that after using up crucial travel, accommodation, food, or translation resources you may be unable to effectively contribute to the relief effort. Instead, help by volunteering in the UK. This can be vitally important to the disaster relief effort.

Check the websites listed in Contact Points for more information and advice on how to go about helping in the UK. If you want to equip yourself to work in humanitarian relief operations most aid agencies can provide advice about getting the relevant training in areas including logistics, IT and telecommunications, medical search and rescue, specialist disasters assessment and healthcare. The big aid agencies also carry a full list of current vacancies on their websites.

You could:

• Help to staff phone lines for an aid agency taking donations or providing public information;
• Organise local, community, church, mosque, synagogue, temple, workplace, or school fundraising events; and
• Volunteer in a charity shop sorting and selling donated items.

Don’t collect and send donated goods: Instead convert goods into cash

A common response to disasters overseas is to organise the collection and donation of goods that you think are urgently needed. Please avoid doing this because if you donate goods that haven’t specifically been requested by an aid agency, these items may clog up airports and docks and actually prevent essential supplies from reaching people in the disaster-affected area.

If food, clothing and medical supplies are needed, the large United Nations agencies and the major non-governmental organisations are geared up to provide bulk supplies quickly, without the need for sorting, packing, finding transportation costs or seeking permits. A cash donation helps them to buy whatever is needed most.

There are two reasons for this:

• The cost of sorting, packing and transporting clothing, blankets and other items collected in the UK often outweighs the benefits of having them donated. 
• It is usually much cheaper and quicker to buy food elsewhere in the affected country, or in neighbouring countries, and this helps to maintain local supplies are needed, the large United Nations agencies and the major non-governmental organisations are geared up to provide bulk supplies quickly, without the need for sorting, packing, finding transportation costs or seeking permits. A cash donation helps them to buy whatever is needed most.

Back to top