NATIONAL EMERGENCIES TRUST CORONAVIRUS APPEAL LAUNCH

Muslim Aid is proud to be part of the National Emergencies Trust, which launched its Coronavirus Appeal on 18 March 2020. 

Our CEO, Jehangir Malik OBE, has been a trustee of NET right from its conception, in the wake of the Grenfell Tower tragedy. The British Red Cross will manage donations to the NET Appeal, and Prince William has spoken movingly about the need for the NET. 

Mr Malik says: "After Grenfell, and the other disasters in 2017, there was a well-meaning free for all, a surge of individuals and organisations offering useful services, but inadvertently contributing to the chaos caused by lack of leadership and an uncoordinated response.

"The NET will mean more accountability, transparency, efficiency, it will mean people in communities will be represented, will receive advice and guidance and - most importantly - their  unmet needs will be addressed." 

A major unmet need, according to Mr Malik, is amongst faith communities, people unable to attend services or events at their houses of prayer. "We at Muslim Aid must address this as a matter of urgency," he says. "As a Muslim charity, and part of the Muslim Charities Forum, we know that in the coming months people are going to need their faith. We are discussing how we can support, as we did after Grenfell, working with the local mosque to offer services to the grieving and the terrified."

"These are tough and uncertain times and we're only asking those who can really afford to give to our appeal to do so," says NET chairman Lord Dannatt. 

Prince William says: "The public's desire to help in the wake of tragedy needs to be managed and channelled in the best possible way - which is why the establishment of National Emergencies Trust was so important." 

Credit: Kensington Palace.