Turkey-Syria Earthquake

St Edmund Hall is deeply saddened by the appalling disaster in Turkey and Syria and offers support to all Syrian and Turkish members of our college community. We give our sincere condolences to everyone affected.

The Hall community has begun to help the Turkish and Syrian communities via donations to the Ahbap Earthquake Relief Fund and the Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC). We ask everyone to consider supporting these appeals or one of the following with brief details of each provided.

The Ahbap Earthquake Relief Fund provides much-needed aid to those affected by the earthquake, providing shelter, food, and medical supplies.

Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC) represents a group of 15 UK charities working together to address this crisis, including Oxfam, Save the Children UK, British Red Cross, Christian Aid and Islamic Relief. The advantage of supporting the DEC is that the UK Government will match pound-for-pound up to £5 million donated by the public to this appeal.

Basmeh & Zeitooneh is a foundation based in Lebanon, with an office in Turkey for operations in Syria (including opposition-held areas). Donations support provision of shelter, heaters and ready-to-eat meals by volunteers in northern Syria through the foundation’s office in Gaziantep, Turkey.

Hurras Network (Syrian Child Protection Network) is a non-profit organisation based in Turkey and operating in Syria (including opposition-held areas). Donations will support the protection and psycho-social care of Syrian children affected by the earthquake.

Turkish Philanthropy Funds is a community foundation in the USA. Donations go to vetted NGOs operating in Turkey, currently including:

• AKUT – for local search and rescue teams & humanitarian aid operations
• Needs Map – for coordination, need analysis and humanitarian aid
• Support to Life Association – for hygiene kits distributed to survivors
• TOG (Community Volunteers Foundation) – for temporary relief and emergency supplies for displaced families
• AHBAP – for generators and mobile toilets
• CYDD (Association for the Support of Contemporary Living) – for immediate cash assistance to students and their families in the affected region
• KAMER (Women’s Foundation) – for humanitarian aid to survivors
• PAYDA (Sharing and Solidarity Organization) – for supporting PAYDA scholarship recipients and their families in the region

Our Welfare team is currently extending support to all Syrian and Turkish members of our community – if you are a Hall student, please do get in contact if you would like further advice or support.