Charitable Trust / Donations 2009: International

Merlin (£355,000)
Merlin is a specialist medical and humanitarian aid agency which responds worldwide with vital healthcare and medical relief for vulnerable people caught up in natural disasters, conflict, disease and health system collapse.

We completed our third year of three-years' funding (£75,000 in total) and made further donations towards their emergency responses to the cyclone in Burma (£150,000), the hurricane in Haiti (£100,000), the Georgia appeal (£50,000) and the cholera outbreak in Zimbabwe (£30,000).

Peace Direct (£35,000)
Peace Direct focuses on grassroots peace-building in conflict areas. They enable civil society peace-building by identifying, funding and supporting local peace entrepreneurs.

MondoChallenge Foundation (£28,670)
The MondoChallenge Foundation supports education and business development in nine countries across the developing world using volunteers on the ground to guide and monitor projects.

We completed our second year of three-years' funding to support the improvement of education in the Arumeru district of Tanzania by providing classrooms, equipment and water storage tanks.

MapAction (£20,000)
MapAction is a unique international charity that maps humanitarian operations in the field during disasters. It provides humanitarian agencies with situation maps, updated frequently at the scene of the disaster and also builds the capacity of international organisations to plan for and respond to natural disasters.

SOS Sahel (£20,000)
SOS Sahel seeks long-term, sustainable solutions to the poverty experienced by millions of people across the semi-arid lands of the Sahel region of Africa. The charity works towards seeing the people of the Sahel have more influence over the decisions that affect their lives and more control over the natural and economic resources they need for a secure and fulfilling life.

Kariandusi School Trust (£21,500)
Kariandusi School Trust is a charity set up for the advancement of education amongst children in rural Kenya. Kariandusi School Trust has addressed the need for schools in Africa by the construction of school buildings and the ongoing provision of school facilities and educational materials in and around those schools.