In 2005, a catastrophic earthquake killed over 100,000 people and displaced millions across northern Pakistan. Pakistani authorities struggled with the rescue and relief efforts and called for assistance from International Governments and Charities which prompted a group of friends from Luton (England) to form a community organisation called Crisis Aid and begin fundraising. In October 2005, volunteers from Luton travelled to Northern Pakistan and Azad Kashmir to deliver emergency supplies to the injured and displaced.

Crisis Aid remained inactive from 2006 until 2013 when the harrowing images of suffering and torture began appearing on our television screens from the conflict in Syria. Crisis Aid was revived and launched a nationwide appeal for clothes and blankets called Keep Syria Warm. These items were transported via shipping containers to Syria via Turkey and distributed to families to help them cope with the biting cold winter. In June 2014, Crisis Aid became a registered charity to continue providing life- saving emergency aid to victims of natural and man-made disasters. We have continued to support victims of the war in Yemen and the genocide in Myanmar of Rohingya Muslims.

Crisis Aid employs five full-time staff members responsible for all income generation and expenditure monitoring. We also rent our offices and warehouse, which are integral to our day to day operations. The charity running costs are paid for by corporate donors, standing orders and income from gift aid; however, it is not quite enough.
Therefore, 6p from each pound you donate goes towards support and running costs, and 4p goes towards getting your donations to the beneficiaries.
90p of each pound you donate goes towards the appeals you choose.
The charity’s administrative costs are covered by:

• 6p from each pound you donate;
• Donations specified for support and running costs;
• Money earnt from recycling projects;
• Specific fundraisers for Crisis Aid; and
• Tax reclaimed from your donation (where specified) from the UK government’s Gift Aid scheme. Any surplus is used for appeals.

Crisis Aid believes that in order to achieve our mission and vision, we need to ensure that our work has the greatest impact. We need to be accountable first and foremost to Allah, Lord of the worlds for He is recording all that we do and He will hold us to account. In that regard, we fear Allah as much as we can and conform to teachings in the Qur’an and Sunnah of the Prophet (PBUH). Thereafter, we are accountable to the UK Charity Commission and, finally, our stakeholders, who are our donors and trustees. We are working towards improved transparency, information sharing and better evaluation.