|PIC1|With ten shopping days left to Christmas, Wesley Owen book shops are urging Christmas shoppers to donate £7 to prevent a child in Africa from contracting the AIDS virus. Wesley Owen has joined forces with aid agency Tearfund to launch 'Work a Miracle', an appeal that aims to raise £2 million within the first year.

Forty-five Wesley Owen stores - from Exeter to Inverness and Belfast to Cambridge - are backing Work a Miracle, an ambitious appeal that aims to halt and reverse the spread of HIV in the poorest places it works within ten years.

One in three infected mothers will pass HIV on to their newborn child. A few simple measures can reduce this risk to 5 per cent. Two doses of medicine - one for the mother before labour and one for the baby after birth - can dramatically reduce the chances of HIV passing through the blood.

London's Wigmore Street store manager, John Telford, said, "We are thrilled to be working with Tearfund to help bring relief to those suffering from HIV/AIDS. Its important for us all to keep a global perspective and our prayer is that this initiative will raise awareness of the HIV/AIDS crisis as well as bringing practical help."

Paul Brigham, Tearfund's UK Director, said, "We would like to thank Wesley Owen for partnering with us for our Work a Miracle appeal. We're encouraging people to donate £7 a month so we can continue to help tackle HIV/AIDS. In poor countries, 1800 babies are born with HIV every day but this can be prevented."

Ten years ago on Christmas day, Esther, a mother from Malawi gave birth to a daughter and called her Alinafe which means 'God with us'. Today, Esther knows there is a risk that on that Christmas day she may have transmitted HIV to Alinafe. "I don't want to tell her that I have HIV," says Esther. "When I'm ill, I tell her I might not get better. But it makes her so sad."

Tearfund is working with church partners around the world to tackle HIV/AIDS. Adds Paul Brigham, "The very essence of Tearfund's work - lifting people out of poverty through local churches - will crumble if we do not meet the challenge of HIV. AIDS is ripping apart the fabric of the communities where Tearfund is working. Only a powerful vision will rewrite the story of AIDS. For Tearfund, this vision rests on the potential of the church."


To find out more visit www.tearfund.org/miracle, www.wesleyowen.com or call 0845 355 8355