- The Guardian,
- Saturday January 3 2004
Guardian and Observer readers had donated £346,938 by New Year's Eve. While the figure is more than at the same stage last year, there is still some way to go before the total of £837,298 is beaten.
Thanks to your generosity, the local and national projects tackling domestic violence and the Nobel prize-winning medical charity Médecins sans Frontières can look forward to expanding the projects our reporters have chronicled for you in the past five weeks.
Those organisations caring for women and children who have lived with violence in the home, or helping men who have succumbed to physical force to solve problems, are as follows: Advance: a 24-hour advocacy service in west London; the Nia project in Hackney; Halt, based in Leeds; Phoenix project, run by the children's charity Barnardo's in Bolton; the Haven, Wolverhampton; domestic violence intervention project in west London; Montgomeryshire family crisis centre; the national charity, Women's Aid Federation of England; and Refuge, the UK's largest single provider of specialist accommodation and support.
Médecins sans Frontières operates in around 80 conflict zones in five continents. Only your financial support guarantees its independence.
Steve Hide, an MSF worker in Colombia, was twice held up at gunpoint in an exceedingly dangerous area, prone to kidnappings. The first question he was asked was: "Who is funding you?" His reply - "People" - he felt allowed him to carry on his work, and to carry on unharmed.
Our appeal is open for another week. Please give generously.
