News & Appeal Updates

september 8th, 2010

EMAT sets £100,000 fundraising target for Pakistan flood victims

Objective is to supply 10,000 ‘Tenergy’ high-energy food packs, each capable of sustaining a family for two weeks.

Aberdeen-based EMAT (Emergency Medical Aid Trust) was originally established by retired local businessman, Mr Mian Akbar Ali, in 1999 as an eyesight saver charity.

To date, around 10,000 people have attended the free Cataract and Tuberculosis screening clinics the charity has organised and funded in the Rahim Yar Khan district of Southern Pakistan, where Mr Mian originally comes from. More than 4,000 patients have been successfully operated on and a permanent, specialist eye hospital, funded by EMAT, is scheduled to open in the area next year.

Now the charity is hoping the North-east community will support its latest effort to raise the funds necessary to enable the distribution of 10,000 high-energy food packs to those in need in the Thul Hamza area, situated around 60km from Liaquatpur in the Rahim Yar Khan district. Thousands of people in this region have been left with no food, water or shelter as a result of the floods and desperately need help.

For every £10 donated to the appeal, EMAT will be able to supply a food pack containing high-energy and long-lasting produce which will sustain a family for two weeks. All of the money donated to the appeal will go directly towards buying the food for the packs with the administration, transportation and distribution costs being funded by a corporate donor.

Mr Mian’s sons, Sarfraz and Iftikar, who run Aberdeen-based property investment and development company West Coast Estates, have also been involved with EMAT since its inception.

Sarfraz, who will accompany his father to Pakistan on September 22 to personally oversee the aid distribution said: “Obviously the welfare of the people in the Rahim Yar Khan area of Pakistan is very close to our hearts given the work we have done over the past decade in the region, and we are therefore determined to do as much as we possibly can to help the victims of this terrible disaster.

“The fact that we are already working in the district on other projects and have an existing infrastructure in place will enable us to hit the ground running when we get out there with the food packs and are ready to start distribution. We will work closely with the local authorities – who we have a well-established relationship with – to ensure the aid gets to those who really need it.

Although we have only just officially launched the flood appeal we have already received a number of sizeable donations from both individuals and local companies & organisations and we are hopeful that with the continued support of the people of the North-east we can achieve our aim of being able to supply 10,000 food packs by the end of the month.

EMAT’s fundraising campaign will receive a boost this Saturday, September 11, when a charity auction in aid of the flood appeal is held at a celebration Eid Dinner – organised to mark the end of Ramadan, the month of fasting – at Ashdale Hall, Westhill, from 6.30pm-9pm.

Among the items up for grabs is a cricket bat signed by Pakistan’s 2009 T20 Cricket World Championship winning squad, which has been donated to the appeal by Cricket Scotland.

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A special thankyou to all of the businesses which have helped make our 2010 Flood Appeal possible.

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Established 1999 : Scottish Charity SC 029505
4 Middleton Path, Bridge of Don, Aberdeen AB22 8LW
T: 07590 712031/712030 E: info@emat.org.uk