Hi All,
The CAFOD world gifts program is at its peak at the moment, so I thought I’d stick a post up to answer a couple of questions.

Last Delivery Day –
CAFOD will not stop taking orders before Christmas. They will be using Royal Mail’s 1st class post to send out any gifts that are ordered between now and Christmas. As the Royal Mail will undoubtedly be hugely busy between now and Christmas CAFOD are unable to guarantee delivery of the physical gifts (such as colouring pencils, and water bottles).
However, CAFOD offer an e-gift option with every purchase. This allows for an email gift to be sent immediately on purchase. This means that CAFOD world gifts can be purchased right up until Christmas and the recipient will still receive their part of the gift.

The last few weeks of 2009 –
During the last few weeks of December last year is when we saw some of the biggest purchases. This is the time when Communities, Churches and other groups have pulled together all of their donations and are ready to make their big donation. We are expecting conversion rates on the big purchases to increase. Some of thee bigger gifts are and how they can help people are listed below.

Storm Proof House – £500
This gift is a true life-saver. It can provide a family house which has a reinforced structure that is strong enough to withstand extreme weather conditions, such as hurricanes and cyclones.

Community Water Supply - £750
This gift can help to provide the materials and know-how to build wells, water tanks, reservoirs, and to install and lay pumps, water pipes and taps to provide clean, safer water to whole communities for drinking, irrigating crops and watering livestock.

Community Rice Bank - £1000
Following crop failure, a late harvest, or a natural disaster, a community rice bank can be a real life-saver for hungry families. Providing basic food to tide people over during times of scarcity, this gift can pay for the construction of a rice bank and about four tonnes of rice.

Health Clinic - £4000
In remote areas where there is little or no medical care, a health clinic provides live-saving support to whole communities. This wonderful gift could run a primary health care clinic for a whole year!

A Secure Place to Live - £5000
In many parts of the developing world, local communities are denied the basic right to land and a home to call their own. These communities are under threat of evicition - from logging, cattle and mining companies for instance. This gift can support entire communities, helping them to better organise and represent themselves, so that their land, homes and futures are more secure

As always if there are any questions, please let me know and we’ll do what we can to help.

Thanks
Darren