An emergency appeal with Unicef to help children caught up in the conflict in Syria is launched today (Friday) by easyJet.
Onboard donations from passengers will be collected on 43,822 flights over six weeks across the budget airline’s network of over 600 routes across more than 30 countries.
Money raised through passenger donations will help provide clothes, blankets and life-saving healthcare to the hundreds of thousands of children struggling to survive extreme winter temperatures in refugee camps which surround the country.
The number of refugees fleeing the Syrian conflict is expected to grow, reaching more than one million, half of which are children.
The campaign comes in the same week that Unicef UK Ambassador Ewan McGregor added his voice to a wider Syria appeal in a television advert aired on Wednesday.
The Syria children’s emergency collection will run until March 15. The collection forms part of a wider ‘Change for Good’ partnership between easyJet and Unicef, which has raised more than £1 million since July 2012.
Passengers can donate by putting spare change or notes of any currency into ‘Change for Good’ pouches on flights.
EasyJet will be providing a number of seats on flights to Jordan to help Unicef staff and experts reach the region so they can help to co-ordinate efforts to deal with the humanitarian impact of the emergency
The airline’s chief executive Carolyn McCall said: “We are in a very strong position to make a real difference to the lives of so many children in Syria with our emergency onboard appeal.
“We are really proud to be supporting one of the most well-known and well respected children’s organisations in the world, Unicef, and everyone from pilots, cabin crew and engineers work hard to ensure its success.
Unicef UK executive director David Bull said: “Since the launch of the Change for Good partnership, easyJet passengers have already shown tremendous generosity. Let’s hope they can do it again so we can keep the innocent children caught up in the Syrian conflict warm, safe and healthy in a time of desperate need.”