Friday 6 January 2006
STUDENTS RAISE EARTHQUAKE CASH

Students at Calderdale College have been working to raise funds and gather practical items for the victims of the Asian earthquake disaster. To date, they have collected £600 through car washes, collecting boxes and an Indian meal and are appealing for blankets and clothes, in particular coats and shoes.

“Many of our learners and staff have extremely close links with the most devastated areas and some have lost family members”, said Shakkela Latif, who runs the Student Life Centre at Calderdale College. “They have had the opportunity of talking to counsellors in student services. We have had a fantastic outpouring of help with local businesses supplying free food for our buffet and people really interested and wanting to help. We will be linking in with local Calderdale Schools to support the building of education centres.”

Student Mohammed Aszal, 19, said “This is not just a short term fundraising project. We’ll be continuing for at least six months and have lots of ideas such as holding curry cookery classes. If possible, we would like to build up a link with a particular area that has been devastated and keep that link going for years to come”.