People from
the UK, USA and Australia have been living off £1 a day all this week in aid of
charity campaign Live Below the Line.
More than
20,000 people are spending five days living below the UK’s extreme poverty line
– a circumstance which is a daily reality for 1.4 billion people worldwide.
Elisha
London, UK director for the Global Poverty Project has faith in the campaign’s
ability to raise awareness to this situation.
“I believe
the challenge does get people to look again at the plight of others around the
world. People start thinking, ‘Imagine if your travel and electricity and water
had to come out of this too’.”
Participants
raise funds to donate to charities such as Christian Fund and Giving Africa. To
date, almost £300,000 has been raised and this amount is rapidly increasing. A
website set up to promote the cause has a sidebar which calculates in real time
donations as they come in and the total amount raised.
Alice
Rutter, a Methodist preacher who is taking the challenge, said that proper
planning and preparation has been vital to ensure she has enough to eat.
“I managed
to get special offers and deals in advance – very poor people might not have
the opportunity to do that.
“The other
day I rebelled and bought 12 grapes – they were half price but they still cost
me 18p. I’ve been having just two at a time, so I’ve still got a few left.”
Unicef - the
driving force behind the movement – are extremely pleased with the campaign’s
success.
“This
movement of passionate people willing and able to make a meaningful difference
to those who need it most is making a huge difference in the fight against extreme
poverty.”
Approximately
25,000 people die of starvation or hunger-related issues every day. Unicef are hopeful
that with the efforts of campaigns like this, these numbers can be dramatically
reduced.
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