Red Cross launches emergency blankets appeal to help Syrians survive freezing winter

The appeal aims to fund 12,500 thermal blankets for people within Syria. These will be added to a further 48,500 blankets bought by the charity, scheduled to arrive in the country on New Year's Eve.

The British Red Cross is preparing to send a huge shipment of aid in to Syria for the winter months. Family food parcels, thermal blankets and hygiene kits totalling £3 million will be sent over the next couple of months.
Freezing conditions

A donation of £50 will buy blankets for two families of five.
Disaster response manager Pete Garratt said: “People who have been forced from their homes by years of violence are now facing a winter of heavy snow, driving rain and freezing conditions. Many are living in damaged buildings with no heating and little in the way of winter clothing.”
Six and a half million of the 8.8 million Syrians who have fled their homes remain inside the country. As the cold weather bites, the Syrian Arab Red Crescent is trying to move some people into public buildings, such as schools, which will provide better shelter from the cold.
Ten million need help

In addition they are continuing to deliver aid to almost three million people every month. However, the UN now estimates close to ten million people will be in need of help within Syria by the end of this year.

Pete said: “It is a continual struggle to maintain this level of aid and to access communities, and the humanitarian situation is worsening. The Syrian Arab Red Crescent and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) are among the only agencies presently able to work across frontlines in Syria.

“These staff and volunteers are risking their lives daily. Thirty-two volunteers have now been killed while bringing aid to people who are desperately in need.”