|TOP|It is just one week but it is a week that can change many lives. This is the message going out from one of the UK’s leading Christian charities as it prepares for one big week of giving. Christian Aid Week is looking to young people across the country to join in and give out as much as they can to save millions of lives.

Churches and their local communities are in the midst of preparations for Christian Aid Week now less than a month away on May 14th to 20th which will see 22,000 churches unite with special worship events and massive fundraising initiatives including parachute jumps, walks and sponsored hymn-singing.

Christian Aid is calling on young people to get involved in the week of fundraising by adding to the 300,000 who went door to door last year to collect donations for underprivileged people in some of the world’s poorest communities.

Young people are encouraged to hold their own events for Christian Aid Week including pizza parties, concerts, church sleepovers, cake sales, and promise auctions.

|AD|Millions of people will benefit from the £16million Christian Aid is hoping to raise throughout the week. A little really goes a long way with just £1 enough to vaccinate 6 children in India or plant 8000 seeds in Ethiopia. And a mere £7 can pay the entire monthly salary of a teacher in Bangladesh.

The week, running under the motto, ‘You Add. We Multiply’, is based on the principle of investing in things that will multiply and provide long-term benefits that span across years not just months, with a view to helping people improve their own lives.

Christian Aid is calling on young people to give through the fundraising events, but also act by organising their own events to publicise global poverty and get involved with more Christian Aid campaigns. It is also calling on young people to pray by setting up a special global prayer zone in their church and hold a special Christian Aid Week prayer marathon or vigil.

Downloadable resources can be obtained from http://www.christianaid.org.uk/worship/church/caw06/index.htm or by calling Sarah Clay, Christian Aid’s Volunteer Development Officer for Young People on 01865 246989.