Save the ACLT: SOS appeal

African and Caribbean Leukemia Trust crisis

The African and Caribbean Leukemia Trust (ACLT have sent out an urgent SOS to appeal for community support to halt its closure.

The plea by co-founders Beverley De-Gale and Orin Lewis is to raise £80K by 31st March to stop the organisation from having to close its doors.

This month like many other vital community organisations the ACLT was informed that its 3-year funding application was unsuccessful, and the ‘Save the ACLT Charity Appeal’ has been urgently set up to try to keep the organisation on its feet.

In their appeal Beverley De-Gale and Orin Lewis said:”There is a sustained and significant lack of long term investment in our work to support patients and donor recruitment in minority ethnic communities. Ultimately, our closure will put many more lives in serious jeopardy. On their behalf, we must all rise to the challenge and galvanise everyone to take immediate action”.

“The £80,000 is a short term measure that buys us more vital time to apply for further sources of funding in the mid to long term. Of course there are no guarantees we will be able to secure new long term funding, but this is our only hope for survival whilst we seek further funds”.

The crisis appeal must raise at least £80K.and the ACLT are asking volunteers, media and entertainment personalities to help in the fundraising. Through community efforts they have managed to raised £7K this month and are looking to fundraising functions and gatherings to help boost the giving.

Beverly and Orin said: "A massive thank you to all ACLT supporters who have made valuable contributions to our life-saving work over the years.  And our dedicated volunteers for their tremendous help and efforts with various fundraising activities over the last year. Like many of you, 2010 was an extremely tough year for us as funding dwindled dramatically despite the hard work to boost income in innovative ways”.

And referring to their on-going work they said: “We need more blood or bone marrow donors to register as blood stocks fall over winter and patients are still waiting for a donor. We still believe in miracles! Together we can beat this challenge and we thank you deeply for all for your ongoing support and well wishes”.

The ACLT works closely with the Anthony Nolan Trust and Henny Braund, Chief Executive said: "Sadly, people from ethnic minority backgrounds who need a bone marrow transplant often find it much harder to find a matching donor. This is because there are far fewer people from these groups on registers worldwide, and also because there is such a huge and divergent range of tissue types within these groups.

"We urgently need to recruit more black and ethnic minority donors so that we can give as many people as possible the hope of a lifesaving transplant. ACLT has a crucial role to play in reaching out to these communities and keeping this vital issue on the public agenda. We are very keen that this work continues and we look forward to continuing to work with ACLT to achieve real change."

The ACLT was  set up in June 1996, by Beverley and Orin, parents of Daniel 'Playzo' De-Gale,

Their son Daniel was suffering from Leukemia and they were informed that his only hope of survival was to receive a bone marrow transplant.

At age 12 Daniel received a transplant at Great Ormond Street Hospital. He lived ‘a full and fruitful life’ free of cancer until the age 21 when health complications led to multiple organ failure, he died in October 2008. 

Visit the ACLT website to see how you can get involved.

To make a donation:  Virgin Money Giving Page.

Winsome-Grace Cornish

Picture: Beverley De-Gale and Orin Lewis with Naomi Campbell - ACLT Gift of Life Charity Fundraising Ball, 2008.