Generous members of the local Asian community can give themselves a pat on the back, after a charity identified the West Midlands as one of the most giving UK counties.
New research figures released by anti-poverty charity ActionAid reveal the top ten most generous UK areas based on the numbers of children in poor countries sponsored by local people.
West Midlands was ranked the fifth most generous region in the survey, with over 1,550 people from the area sponsoring through ActionAid more than 1,640 children living in poverty across Africa, Asia and South America.
Coronation Street actress Sally Dynevor says: “My family and I have been sponsoring children with ActionAid for over 10 years. Following a visit with my daughter Phoebe to India to meet the child we had been sponsoring for eight years I saw for myself the real difference that child sponsorship makes to a child and their community.
Our kids have also learnt about what life is like in a very different part of the world. This is why I think buying a gift like child sponsorship is more than just a present that fascinates for five minutes but enriches your child’s life for years to come.”
The findings show that West Midland folk truly are a generous bunch, raising more than £316,400 every year – money that goes directly to the child and their community, enabling them to build a future free from poverty.
People from West Midlands have sponsored an amazing total of 6,004 children through ActionAid since the charity was set up in 1972 – enough to fill 245 primary school classes.
Dawn Wyatt from ActionAid’s child sponsorship team says of the Christmas gift campaign: “At a time when life is financially harder for most of us, the generosity of people in West Midlands is inspiring and absolutely vital in supporting ActionAid’s work.
We want to thank all those people in West Midlands who are already helping us by sponsoring a child. We also want to show that there are thousands more children around the world who desperately need our help. For them December is often just another month of starvation and not a festive season.”
