Disaster relief
India and Bangladesh cyclone victims receive £15,000 grant
Thousands of people in Bangladesh and India whose lives have been devastated by Cyclone Amphan will be provided with urgently-needed humanitarian assistance, thanks to our £15,000 grant on behalf of Freemasons in England and Wales.
Since the cyclone hit in late May, more than 100 people have died despite a mass evacuation in advance. Tens of thousands of homes have been destroyed and power has been cut off in many regions. Damage to roads, bridges, and other essential infrastructure has been huge, and many villages now find themselves flooded or completely cut off.
While there is a major shortage of food and drinking water supplies have been contaminated, our £15,000 grant to Plan International means that more than 700 families will be provided with up to 20 days of food. This will help to ensure children who have lost everything will not go hungry, and families will have access to basic necessities like rice, wheat flour, dal, and high-energy biscuits.
In Bangladesh alone, more than 2.4 million people were evacuated to cyclone shelters, three times as many as were evacuated during the last cyclone alert in 2019. There are fears that the cramped and overcrowded conditions in temporary shelters will greatly accelerate the spread of the COVID-19 virus.
Rose Caldwell, Chief Executive of Plan International UK, said “We’re hugely grateful for this generous contribution to Plan International’s disaster response to Super Cyclone Amphan. The damage is colossal across large parts of Bangladesh and India. This donation will enable us to provide urgent support to those most in need, especially children and girls.”
Our Chief Executive, David Innes, said: “Sadly, many people have died and hundreds of thousands more have been displaced by this terrible cyclone. I’m very pleased that Freemasonry is able to move so quickly to provide this essential funding for Plan International UK who are providing rapid support to those worst affected by the disaster.”
Click here to find out more about our emergency grants and grants to charities.
