When a magnitude 7.8 earthquake struck Turkey and Syria overnight on the 6th of February, the world was shocked. Personally I couldn’t believe the scenes of total devastation; buildings, towns, cities all reduced to rubble and dust. The images and videos I have been watching on the news over these past few weeks have really broken my heart. Seeing families scrambling around in what used to be their homes and communities, for family members and loved ones is not something I want to see again. The fact that it was at night time, and the vast majority of people were tucked up in bed – the place we are all supposed to feel the most safe, only adds to the pain. The buildings came down like a packs of cards all around them as they slept, in the worst natural disaster to hit the region in over a century.

At the time of me writing this blog post, the official death toll is at 42,000 and counting, but of course it could realistically be much higher than this. Who knows what the final numbers will be – and we may never know. For those that haven’t lost someone in the tragedy there are the mental scars and of course the total loss of homes and possessions.

Whilst the world was shocked, it also stood united in helping those affected by the terrible tragedy. Money and donations flooded in from around the globe to help those in need. One of the wonderful organisations supporting is The British Red Cross, a humanitarian organisation that has been helping millions of people in the UK and around the world get the help they need when crisis strikes for 150 years, and which I myself support. It provides the people, equipment, space and resources to support those affected by emergencies, helping them to recover. Needless to say they are very busy in Turkey and Syria at the moment, but they need our help to continue their work.

The work of the British Red Cross, and other humanitarian organisations, proves why it is so important to support charities – so that they are ready and able to jump in to action and be there for those in need, when unexpected disaster hits.

Those looking to support, should go to https://www.redcross.org.uk/