Christian Aid group's 40th birthday

7:27pm Monday 12th May 2008

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Members of Kings Langley Christian Aid are celebrating the group's 40th anniversary and the fact that it has raised thousands of pounds to help people living in poverty.

Group chairman Harold Taylor said: "The amount raised in the last 40 years is £200,000, but with inflation, this amounts to around £250,000.

"We raise the money to help relieve the misery and suffering, such as what we have seen in Burma, and the 2004 tsunami.

"We get involved in a variety of projects and wage campaigns to get governments around the world to reform their trading laws to give third world traders a fair crack of the whip.

"In the wake of the tsunami, it was reported that Christian Aid responded brilliantly and provided housing of a good quality."

He added: "I woke up on Boxing Day to hear the news of this tremendous disaster claiming a quarter of a million lives and within days we were in Kings Langley High Street organising collections and fundraising in local schools.

"We have helped to set up schools around the world, provide clean drinking water and irrigation projects. It's not just about responding to crises, it's also about sustainable development, giving people good health facilities, fighting Aids, providing them with a livelihood."

Paul Tucker, who has worked with Christian Aid in Kings Langley for more than 20 years and is now a campaign officer, explained that the key churches the group works with are the Baptist, Anglican and Methodist churches in Kings Langley, which make up Churches Together.

He said: "We lobby MPs about developing countries and debt and have been working on campaigning against vulture funds'.

"It's good that young people are really switched on to these issues, for example, fair trading, which the local youth group have been looking at."

To mark this anniversary, a booklet has been published and is available for £2.50. Call 01923 269260.