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Save the Children chosen by The Sunday Times as charity Christmas Appeal partner

Thair*, a 9-year-old Syrian refugee in Lebanon.”Here we have nothing. We can’t play, we can’t go out. Here we are strangers.”(*name changed to protect identity)

The Sunday Times has chosen  Save the Children as its Christmas charity appeal partner for the second year running.

All funds raised will go towards our Syria Crisis Appeal.

Supporting Syria’s children

“As the Syrian crisis enters its fourth year, there seems no end in sight for a whole generation of children who have suffered unimaginably,” says Save the Children CEO Justin Forsyth.

“Millions of terrified children have lost their parents, brothers, sisters, friends, homes and normality through no fault of their own. Many don’t have any memories left of what a normal childhood, free from war should look like,” he adds.

Before the war, almost all of Syria’s children were in school and literacy rates were more than 90%. Now children face blighted futures.

Around 1.5 million children have been driven out of Syria with their families since the war there began in 2011. Most of those children have been out of school, or only in school part-time, for at least two years.

Helping these children catch up and make something of their lives is a mammoth task. In addition to our emergency aid programme, we’re setting up accelerated learning programmes for older children, kindergarten classes for young children and ‘child-friendly spaces’ where children can play, relax – and be children again.

Time for giving

“While the humanitarian needs in this crisis are incalculable,” says Justin Forsyth, “with your support, The Sunday Times appeal can make a huge difference to the most vulnerable children and their families by providing safe shelter, education and play alongside basic needs like food, safe water, medicine, and shelter.”

Last year’s appeal raised £1.2 million for Save the Children. The Sunday Times hopes to repeat that success this year. GlaxoSmithKline and Unilever have each contributed £50,000 to kickstart the appeal.

“Please do dig deep this Christmas and give what you can to help those children who have been left with nothing.”

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