Morocco Earthquake Relief Fund

UPDATE 3 19/09: Wow! Some epic fundraising.

After speaking to the president of the Asni region near Imlil, Jamal Imerhane last week we were able to use the first part of the funds raised to purchase and transfer over a batch of sleeping bags and tents to the Asni and Imlil regions in Morocco.

A huge thanks also to Sir Richard Branson who kindly delivered the items and wrote a nice little update about this on his blog where he met up with Jamal which you can read right here - https://www.virgin.com/branson-family/richard-branson-blog/morocco

There were more than 70 villages affected in the Asni/Imlil valley region and it is fantastic that we could raise and get the urgent items over to the villages in only 5 days.

We are now waiting on whether we can get another flight of sleeping bags and tents over to Morocco before we purchase any further items. If not we will send over the funds to Jamal Imerhane to distribute amongst the most in need in the Atlas region. 7

Thanks for all donations so far and we'll continue to leave this open for more donations.

Thanks

Andy

EverTrek founder and CEO

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Update 2:

We are now also collaborating with Captain Chris Hall, a pilot with Virgin Airlines to combine our funds and purchase the tents and sleeping bags together over in Morocco. We've now also got confirmation that the Branson Foundation is involved and able to provide a plane to transport the tents and sleeping bags over to Morocco. We've hit our first target of £2000 now let's get to £4000 and the more we raise the more tents and sleeping bags we can send across.

Thanks to everyone's generosity you'll be making a huge difference in providing somewhere to sleep and live for the local communities until their homes are made safe.

Every bit counts, and on behalf of Morocco and the villages of the High Atlas, thank you from the bottom of our hearts.

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Just before midnight last night on the 8th September a tragic earthquake measuring just under 7.0 on the Richter scale hit Morocco with its epicentre in the high Atlas mountains causing severe damage in the cities and villages of Morocco and a high loss of life.

The extent of the damage to the small mountain communities is still being investigated but it's clear that it's been catastrophic with severe damage in the city of Marrakesh and unknown devastation in the mountain villages. We've heard that small towns like Imlil, Aroumd, Asni and many others have been severely hit. These villages are where many of our trekking guides and support staff live with their families and will no doubt have some massive challenges ahead for both them and their local communities.

We are launching an immediate and urgent appeal for any donations to support these communities who are in desperate need. I'm in touch with our colleague, friend and president of the Asni region Jamal Imerhene who we've worked with for many years in Morocco within the mountain tourism industry through our company EverTrek and he will be able to direct any funds we raise to the right places.

He is in contact with the affected communities in the High Atlas Mountains in and around the Imlil Valley and Asni region. We now know that the most urgent things are tents, sleeping bags and food so all funds will be able to assist in giving the local families somewhere to stay whilst their homes are made safe.

Thanks so much and our thoughts and prayers are with all that have been affected.

Andy & the EverTrek team