ILKLEY Quakers responded to an urgent appeal from a member who had heard about the plight of villagers in the Philippines who had lost everything after Storm Odette in December.

In a week they raised £421 which will go towards the cost of building sturdy, storm resistant homes in Negros Oriental, one of the worst affected regions. A storm resistant home costs £400 to build. The Quaker's link person in the Philippines, Becky Stanbridge said: “While many organisations have been working hard to distribute enough food and water to help them survive, (and this is still greatly needed) we are more than aware that the long term solution is rebuilding homes, so they can start rebuilding their lives with the peace of mind that they will be more resilient and better prepared for the onslaught of inevitable increasingly powerful forces of nature.

“This team of volunteers made their first trip north to the town of Tayasan from Dumaguete last week with building materials. Your donations are being used to directly purchase the materials needed to build a home for a large family as you can see in the attached photos. The volunteers are arranging the logistics and the engineer will be the one to project manage the builds.”

Ilkley Quaker, Diane Jakeways who introduced the appeal said: “I was so delighted that we could respond like this. We have raised enough to build at least one house, and we can see exactly where the money is going, and they really value our support.”

If you would like to help Ilkley Quakers support this work further get in touch at hello@ilkleyquakers.org.uk.