Thousands of young girls and women in the Central African Republic (CAR and beyond) will have the opportunity to gain an education thanks to the success of a partnership appeal from Tearfund, Spar, EuroSpar and ViVO.
For the first time, the annual Christmas appeal between the charity and retailer in Northern Ireland has surpassed £1m in funds raised from generous local communities in just three months.
This year’s funds will go towards providing education opportunities in countries including the CAR, where currently, three in every four women cannot read or write. Through literacy and vocational training, Tearfund will ensure women are gaining the essential tools to lift themselves and their families out of poverty.
Chris Thompson, director of Tearfund in Northern Ireland, met with pupils from Ashfield Girls High School, which places an important emphasis on reading and literacy skills to further their pupils’ education.
Thompson commented; “Once again, we are blown away by the generosity of local store communities, churches and schools who helped us raise £537,030.83, while Spar, EuroSpar, ViVO, ViVOXTRA and ViVO Essentials matched every pound up to £500,000.
“This means, for the first time in our 13-year partnership, the one-million-pound target has been surpassed and £1,037,030.83 has been raised.”
Bronagh Luke from Spar NI added: “The success of this year’s partnership appeal goes to show how generous our shoppers and local communities are. People throughout Northern Ireland understand that education is a privilege afforded to us here, but that isn’t equal for all around the world.”
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