Record numbers raise money to build homes
Howard Lake | 24 November 2008 | News
Two thousand Irish volunteers having raised €1 million will set off for South Africa this week for the now annual effort to build homes for people living in poverty in the townships of Cape Town.
The volunteers with the Niall Mellon Township Trust aim to complete over 250 houses in the course of their one week ‘building blitz’, providing homes for over 3,000 people in the Cape Town area.
Property developer and founder of the trust, Niall Mellon, said the sixth annual ‘building blitz’ would be the largest to date. Some 700 of this year’s volunteers have taken part in the project before. The volunteers come from all walks of life, include all ages and come from right across the country. They include skilled trades people and senior executives, nurses, doctors, firemen and even a fisherman, Mr Mellon said.
“A large number of our volunteers are from the construction sector. We are deeply humbled that they have worked so hard this year to raise the target of €5,000 each. Many of these people have had a tough year personally, some of them have been let go from their jobs and despite all of this, their determination has shone through and they have worked extra hard to raise the €5000,” Mr Mellon said.
Some 5,000 volunteers have worked on the annual building project since its inception in 2002 and the charity has built over 10,000 houses.
www.irishtownship.com
About Howard Lake
Howard Lake is consultant editor of UK Fundraising. He founded the site in 1994 and successfully sold it in 2022. As director of Giving X Ltd he is exploring growing giving on a massive scale.
He is the founder of Fundraising Camp and co-founder of GoodJobs.