Dubai: More than Dh6,000 was raised on Monday night at a charity carol singing concert held in aid of seafarers.
The English College Primary School and Dubai College Choirs sang with a congregation at the Christ Church, Jebel Ali, to raise money for the Angel Appeal, Mission to Seafarers.
The money raised will be used to buy Christmas presents for seafarers spending the festive period at sea.
According to Alexi Trenouth, Events Manager, Angel Appeal, the number of participants doubled from last year. The evening was "lovely and went really well" she told Gulf News.
Festive season
The Reverend Steven Miller spoke about the seafarers who spend the festive season at sea and Galleries Lafayette sponsored the mince pies and biscuits provided for the evening.
The Angel Appeal supports The Flying Angel — an equipped boat that supports seafarers that are unable to come ashore. The Flying Angel visits these ships and has e-mail and telephone facilities, a small shop, a welfare officer and book and DVD libraries.
Every year, more than 10,500 ships carrying a host of supplies and more than 200,000 seafarers drop anchor in the East Coast waters of the Emirates. They are representative of the ships that deliver 99.3 per cent of all UAE imports.
To support seafarers and the Appeal, there will be a Christmas present Wrapathon at Dubai Festival City on Saturday, from 11am to 5pm, outside Toys ‘R' Us, with a minimum donation of Dh10.
This year, the Appeal is trying to break a record, by wrapping 5,000 presents in one day and the wrapped gifts will be distributed to seafarers between and December 20 and December 30.
Information
Donations can also be made by purchasing a phone card for seafarers to call their families, via: www.angelappeal.com
