Christian Aid Week 2021 promotional toolkit

ContentsFirst things first.........................................................................................................1Christian Aid logos....................................................................................................2Images.................................................................................................................... 3

Portrait.................................................................................................................3Landscape............................................................................................................4

Short magazine article...............................................................................................5Long magazine article................................................................................................6Press release...........................................................................................................9

Instructions on how to use our press releases templates.............................................9300,00 steps in May - press release template............................................................9

A5 flyer for Christian Aid Week 2021..........................................................................12Images...............................................................................................................12

First things firstThank you very much for promoting Christian Aid Week.

We hope the images and articles in this promotional toolkit will help you tell people about the work we do. Without your support and help, we would not be able to do all that we do, so thank you very much.

If you are using social media, don’t forget to tag Christian Aid, so we can share your posts too!

• Facebook: @christianaid

• Twitter: @christian_aid

• Instagram: @christianaiduk

We have more resources available at caweek.org/resources

If you need further support, get in touch at hello@christian-aid.org or visit our website.

The funds raised during Christian Aid Week will help people living in poverty around the world, and we are proud to have you standing alongside us for dignity, equality, justice and love.

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Christian Aid logos

Please use at the top left of your print publication (CMYK)

Please use at the bottom left of your print publication (CMYK)

Please use at the top left of your web publication (RGB)

Please use at the bottom left of your web publication (RGB)

Please use dates on your print publication (CMYK)

Please use dates on your web publication (RGB)

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ImagesPortrait

Photo credit: Christian Aid/Tom Pilston Photo credit: Christian Aid/Tom Pilston

Photo credit: Christian Aid/Adam Finch Photo credit: Christian Aid/Tom Pilston

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Landscape

Photo credit: Christian Aid/Tom Pilston

Photo credit: Christian Aid/Tom Pilston

Photo credit: Christian Aid/Tom Pilston Photo credit: Christian Aid/Adam Finch

Photo credit: Christian Aid/Tom Pilston Photo credit: Christian Aid/Adam Finch

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Short magazine article With every gift, we help people like Rose and stop this climate crisis

In Kenya, extreme weather is making it harder and harder to survive. For communities fighting the climate crisis, every last drop matters and every last one of us can help them thrive. The coronavirus pandemic has only increased the urgent need for families to access a reliable source of water.

The devastating climate crisis robs people of the water and food they need to live.

Rose walks for six hours to fetch water for her grandchildren. She tries hard to give them the kind of life she remembers from when she was a girl: when the rivers flowed with water and the crops bore fruit.

Rose and her grandchildren shouldn’t have to go hungry. A simple earth dam, built with the help of Christian Aid’s partners and your donations, could completely change her life. This Christian Aid Week, you can be one of the hundreds of thousands of our supporters who give, act and pray to stop this climate crisis driving people like Rose to hunger.

From envelope collections to walking 300,000 steps in May, Christian Aid Week brings people together as one community against global poverty and injustice.

This Christian Aid Week (10-16 May), please:

Give generously to help ensure people like Rose fight this climate crisis. Act as we call on the UK Prime Minister to lead the world with ambitious climate

action that will also address inequality. Pray for a radical change of heart for politicians, and that as a global community we

will care for our common home and for people living in poverty.

Together we stop this climate crisis.

Join us at caweek.org

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Long magazine articleWith every gift, with every voice, with every prayer, with every action, we stop this climate crisis.

Our planet is changing, but some people are feeling the effects of this more than others. Weather extremes are now more frequent and more intense due to the climate crisis and one place that has experienced this is Kenya.

In parts of Kenya in 2020, drought was followed by relentless rainfall and flooding, which damaged crops that had struggled to grow. Together, the climate chaos and coronavirus are a double threat to lives and livelihoods.

Climate chaos is causing a hunger crisis

In Kitui, eastern Kenya, 8 out of 10 people depend on rain to grow crops. Without water, staple crops like maize and beans wither up and die. People can’t earn a living and they go hungry.

People are forced to walk further and further to collect water. This daily burden robs them of the chance to farm and grow food for their families. Elderly women and children are especially vulnerable on these dangerous journeys and can face robbery or conflict as people battle over scarce resources. Cows, sheep and goats are becoming weaker and weaker. They can’t produce milk or be sold. People are struggling to cope. Lives are at risk. Families need every last drop to survive this climate chaos.

Christian Aid has been working in Kenya since 1997. One of our long-standing partners in Kenya is Anglican Development Services – Eastern (ADSE). Christian Aid and ADSE are working together with communities in Kitui county to help them to adapt to drought as well as flooding, as climate chaos robs people of control over their lives.

ADSE helps communities build earth and sand dams, and rock catchments, so they can harvest water near their homes. Dams are simple and cost-effective natural storage solutions. They catch the rain when it falls, increase the amount of stored water available to communities, defend against intense rain and flooding, and free women and girls from making long and dangerous journeys to collect water.

Meet Rose: a loving, hard-working grandmother

One woman who is experiencing the worst of the climate crisis is Rose. A grandmother, Rose is an experienced village leader. She is proud to be able to cover the costs of her grandchildren’s education by working as a casual labourer.

After her husband died in 2006, Rose began to feel ill. She went to hospital and was diagnosed with HIV. She says: ‘My faith has helped me to accept my status and I believe that, with the doctor’s advice, I will live a long life.’ The medication Rose takes requires her to eat a balanced diet, but because of the long journeys to get water, she can’t farm the vegetables she needs and she goes hungry.

In this desperate climate chaos, Rose battles to bring water home for her grandchildren. Every morning, after nothing to eat, she sets out on a long, dangerous journey, walking six hours to collect water.

While she walks, her stomach gives her stabbing pains. She feels weary under the hot sun and the full jerry cans are heavy (40 litres of water weigh 40kg). Her aching legs walk on,

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because if she gives up, her grandchildren will suffer hunger and thirst. ‘We have to walk long distances. We are suffering,’ she says.

Rose needs every last drop to survive the climate chaos

Rose remembers her childhood when the rain was reliable and there was plenty of food. She wishes her grandchildren could have the same lives; instead, she hopes that her sacrifices will give them the chance of a better future. But the climate crisis is driving her to the brink. When she arrives home, exhausted, her grandson Charles cooks her a meagre bowl of porridge – but he knows she is still hungry.

But it shouldn’t have to reach this breaking point.

There is a nearby earth dam just minutes away from Rose’s home. It should be a lifeline. But it’s not wide or deep enough for everyone’s needs. It runs out of water too quickly.

Rose and her community need a bigger dam, to help them capture the rainfall and create a long-lasting source of water for their families.

A song of hope and power

What happens when the search for water does not consume people’s lives? What happened when people have the water they need to thrive?

We can find out by meeting Florence: a woman who has transformed her life with access to a dam full of water.

Florence is a soulful, joyful woman: full of life, love and laughter. The women in her farming group look up to her. She’s courageous and kind – a survivor.

A few years ago, her husband died, leaving her a widow. At that time, she had no water to grow crops. Her children were hungry. Like Rose does now, she had to walk for hours to collect water. ‘Life was miserable,’ she told us.

Florence could easily have been defeated. But she is a fighter. With help from Christian Aid’s local partner, Florence and her community were able to build a dam together, just 30 minutes from her house.

Using water from the dam, Florence grows tomatoes, onions and chillies on her farm. Her children can eat healthy, nutritious vegetables, and she has enough left to sell. It’s her source of life and joy.

Florence also uses the dam to keep bees: the microclimate of plants growing around the dam means the bees don’t need to search long distances for nectar. She sells the rich, golden honey at the market.

She says: ‘I have been sustained by the earth dam. My life has changed. I am very happy. You can see it in my face: my face is shining. I have strength and power.’

Blessings for all in need

You can see Florence’s strength and power as she hauls heavy buckets to water her crops. You can see her strength and power as she sings to encourage the women with whom she farms. You can see her strength and power as she takes climate justice into her own hands.

Florence is a generous woman of faith. She knows others are struggling to cope without a reliable water source, and wishes the same blessings she has received will be granted to them: ‘There is a village nearby – they don’t have an earth dam. They are suffering. I am

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thankful to people who have donated to build this earth dam. I am praying God will increase their giving.’

This Christian Aid Week, will you stand with people like Rose and Florence?

Please donate this Christian Aid Week (10-16 May). Your gift could help a community build an earth dam, providing a regular and reliable source of water in affected areas of Kenya.

£4.40 could teach 10 farmers how to plant drought-tolerant crops that can survive the drought.

£10 could buy a pair of taps at a water point which will be installed at an earth dam, making it easier for people to fetch water.

£42 could buy 350kg of cement, which is needed to build an earth dam. £545 could pay for a skilled labourer to work on the construction of an earth or sand

dam.

Every pound raised, every prayer said and every action taken, are expressions of our Christian love and compassion, of our belief that all life is equal and precious in the sight of God. Together, we stop this climate crisis, and give brave, hard-working women like Rose the chance to thrive.

You can also join us as we call on the UK Prime Minister to lead the world with ambitious climate action that will also address inequality.

Also, pray with us for a radical change of heart for politicians, and that as a global community we will care for our common home and for people living in poverty.

We can all be part of the solution. All we need is courage and determination.

Stand together with us to fight this climate crisis.

Join us this Christian Aid Week. Donate at caweek.org

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Press releaseInstructions on how to use our press releases templates

Thank you very much for using one of our press releases.

During Christian Aid Week last year, supporters were responsible for a whopping 40% of our local media coverage in England. That was fantastic! It would be great if we could achieve something similar in 2021.

In the press release below, you will need to change the parts in red and insert your text to make the press release unique to your story. Please do get a photo and a quote to accompany your press release – they’re a great way to enhance it and get media attention.

If you need further support, get in touch at hello@christian-aid.org or visit our website.

300,00 steps in May - press release template

Monday 25 April 2021

Dursley minister to walk 300,000 steps to help tackle global threats of Covid-19 and climate crisis

Dursley minister the Rev Simon Helme is stepping out in May to help some of the world’s poorest communities protect themselves from the twin threats of Covid-19 and the climate crisis.

In the year when world leaders will meet in the UK to thrash out plans to tackle both global crises, Simon, the minister at Dursley Tabernacle URC, has pledged to walk 300,000 steps in May in solidarity with all those forced to walk long distances to collect water for their families.

Handwashing in our homes, a key line of defence against coronavirus, is not an option for the world’s 3 billion people who do not have access to soap and water at home. Across the globe, water shortages triggered by erratic weather are pushing families into extreme poverty as crops fail.

The sponsored walking challenge will form part of the events for Christian Aid Week (10-16 May), which traditionally take place at the Parsonage Street church each year.

In 2019, the Tab raised £1,897 through house-to-house collections, a Big Brekkie, plant sales and church service collections – but movement restrictions have forced supporters to become more creative with their fundraising, so Simon is striding out.

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Simon said: ‘In June, the world will turn its eyes to the UK as we host a G7 meeting in Cornwall to help the world build back better and greener from coronavirus, and in November we will host the UN’s global climate summit, COP26, in Glasgow.

‘These are critical times. As a nation still in the grip of a pandemic, we have understood what it means to be vulnerable – perhaps for the first time in generations.

‘Christian Aid Week is an opportunity to make a difference and to walk in solidarity with those who are suffering, so they can build resilient futures for their families.

‘People trapped in desperate poverty are having to contend not only with coronavirus but also the ravages of climate chaos, largely caused by the actions of people in wealthy countries.

‘I like to walk, but it’s rare for me to reach 10,000 steps in a day, especially since movement restrictions have moved much of my work online.

‘Reaching the 300,000 mark is going to be a real challenge – and I apologise in advance for the inevitable change in the weather in May now I have set this goal!

‘I’m aiming to raise £3,000, which means that each step will be worth 1p. Hopefully that will keep me going – all donations will be welcome, however small.’

In Kenya, Christian Aid is helping people in rural communities where extreme weather has become more frequent, resulting in food shortages for millions as crops struggle to grow. In 2020, drought was followed by relentless rainfall and flooding in some parts of the country, causing further crop damage. With no access to reliable water sources or a way to capture rainfall, many families are pushed to the edge of survival.

Christian Aid partner organisations are empowering communities to access and build water dams or rock catchments near their homes, so women and children are spared the long and often hazardous walk to collect water and families have an accessible water supply for their crops and livestock.

Christian Aid’s church engagement officer for Gloucestershire, Yvonne Penn, said: ‘Coronavirus has reminded us how we are all connected, locally and globally.

‘Throughout the pandemic it has been incredible to see supporters across Gloucestershire determined to help transform the lives of the world’s most vulnerable people. This year, the global community must make critical decisions about how we all safeguard our future. Please support Simon if you can, so together we can stop the climate crisis.

To support Simon’s 300,000 steps challenge visit [insert link]. £5 could buy a shovel to build a dam, £10 could buy a pair of taps at a water point and £42 could buy 350kg of

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cement to build an earth dam. To find out more about how to build pressure for change for a greener, fairer world, visit.

ENDSNotes to Editors: If you would like further information, please contact insert local contact details or Christian Aid’s media team on 07850 242950 or mediacomms@christian-aid.org

Photos attached. Caption: The Rev Simon Helme will be stepping out against global poverty across Cam and Dursley this May as he attempts to reach 300,000 steps.

Christian Aid exists to create a world where everyone can live a full life, free from poverty. Poverty is an outrage against humanity. It robs people of their dignity and lets injustice thrive. But together we have the power to transform lives.

We are a global movement of people, churches and local organisations who passionately champion dignity, equality and justice in countries worldwide. We are the changemakers, the peacemakers, the mighty of heart.

We provide urgent, practical help in times of crisis and beyond. We seek to eradicate extreme poverty by tackling its root causes. Together with people living in poverty, we amplify our voices to speak truth to power and create lasting change.

Everyone is equal in the sight of God. For over 70 years, this has inspired us to stand together in solidarity with our global neighbours, of all faiths and none. Visit https://www.christianaid.org.uk for further information.

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A5 flyer for Christian Aid Week 2021 Images

Photo credit: Christian Aid/Tom Pilston

Photo credit: Christian Aid/Tom Pilston

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Rose needs every last drop to survive this climate crisisThe climate chaos is having a significant impact on communities in Kenya.

Without a reliable source of water, many communities are struggling to survive, and the coronavirus pandemic has made the lack of water more desperate. One of these people is Rose.

Rose battles every day to bring water home for her grandchildren. But the climate crisis is driving her to the brink.

‘We have to walk long distances. We are suffering,’ Rose said. ‘Because of climate change, I worry a lot about food. I pray to God that the rainfall will become normal.’

Faced with this devastation, Rose strives to provide for her grandchildren. Every morning, after nothing to eat, she sets out on a long and dangerous journey, walking six hours to collect water.

There is an earth dam just minutes away from her home. It should be a lifeline. But it’s not wide enough or deep enough for everyone’s needs. It runs out of water too quickly.

Together, we can help stop this climate crisis. But we need to act now.

This Christian Aid Week (10-16 May), you could help people like Rose fight the climate crisis. Donate to help communities like hers have what they need to survive: a reliable source of water.

£4.40 could teach 10 farmers how to plant drought-tolerant crops that can survive the drought.

£10 could buy a pair of taps at a water point which will be installed at an earth dam, making it easier for people to fetch water.

£42 could buy 350kg of cement, which is needed to build an earth dam. £545 could pay for a skilled labourer to work on the construction of an earth or sand

dam.

With a dam full of water, Rose would be free from her long, painful journeys. She’d have time to grow fresh vegetables for her family to eat. And she could see her grandchildren grow up to live life in all its fullness.

Stand with people like Rose and join us by donating at caweek.org Your community is supporting Christian Aid this May. Find out how you can help:

Together we stop this climate crisis.

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