Community rallies around as emergency appeal hits target following fatal Swansea gas explosion.

"The generosity of the community, both in Morriston itself, Swansea and beyond has been heart-warming… everyone has pulled out all the stops to contribute to the fund."

UPDATE! We are delighted to announce that since the launch of this appeal, the £20k target for this appeal has been hit with the total now over £33k and counting! From individual donations and school cake sales to major fundraising events and large corporate donations, the community has rallied around to help its neighbours in needs. So far, £20,000 has been distributed directly to families that have been affected through lump sum impact payments.

Thank you to everyone who has supported this cause, and there's still time to donate! 

Amanda Carr, Director, Swansea Council for Voluntary Service (SCVS) said: “The generosity of the community, both in Morriston itself, Swansea and beyond has been heart-warming… everyone has pulled out all the stops to contribute to the fund. We knew that the priority was to make sure those who were affected had money in their pocket as soon as possible, so we made the first wave of payments within a week of the appeal being launched. Since then, we have made two more payments, one last week, and another this week, which takes us up to the £20,000 figure.”

Every penny donated will go directly to those who have been affected. And among the hundreds of donations, the appeal received a huge boost when SCVS were contacted by a representative of the local Amazon depot, pledging a donation of £10,000.

Chris Law, General Manager at Amazon’s site in Swansea, which employs around 2,000 people from the local area said of their donation: “Amazon’s thoughts remain those who were injured, and with everyone who continues to be affected. I know there’s a large number of people and organisations who continue to work tirelessly to help the local community, and we hope this donation will support those relief efforts.”

Localgiving has been proud to help support this emergency appeal, and we were delighted to work with our partners in South Wales so support a community in need. And we asked Amanda Carr again for a little insight into our involvement.

"As the umbrella support charity for the voluntary sector in Swansea, we haven't undertaken direct fundraising with the public before; but when the terrible incident in Morrison took place in March we were asked by partners to step in, as it was clear that there was a real need in the community - both for funds by those that had been affected, and by the wider community to feel like they were able to tangibly help in some way. We have had a great relationship with Localgiving for several years, but in the role of promoting their fantastic free first year of membership and support for voluntary organisations in Wales, and helping to facilitate sessions for the sector with their very helpful South Wales development officer rather than in running fundraisers ourselves.

When looking for a platform to run the appeal, Localgiving was our obvious 'go to'! Not only because of our previous relationship, but because 100% of donations go to the cause (there is no commission), there was no charge for us as a charity to use the site in our first year, and, because Localgiving is only available to Charities, GiftAid donation was built in to the process.

We had to start from scratch, but Localgiving helped us every step of the way. Registration approval, which includes due diligence by Localgiving to confirm our charitable status, took less than 24 hours; and in such a time sensitive situation we had our appeal live just over 48 hours after the incident happened.

 We have had direct support from Localgiving when we needed it, and the platform itself is incredibly straight forward. We've have raised an incredible more than £30,000 in a little over a month.

 We have no reservations about recommending Localgiving to any third sector organisation looking to raise funds, whether in an emergency, or for a longer term campaign - they have been brilliant at every stage" concluded Carr. 

Launch of the appeal 

An emergency appeal has been launched for households impacted by the devastating explosion in Morriston, Swansea on Monday 13th March.

One man was killed, with three injured and a number of householders in the surrounding properties are unable to return to their homes and find themselves with substantial damage to their homes and belongings.An investigation into the cause of the fatal blast is still ongoing. 

All the team here at Localgiving are proud to have mobilised quickly to support the fundraising efforts of Swansea Council for Voluntary Service and its local partners. They are are encouraging donations, with the money raised being used initially to provide emergency financial support to people immediately impacted by the explosion who may need to replace urgent items that have been damaged or destroyed, and longer term to support additional costs.

SCVS Director Amanda Carr said: "Our hearts go out to those affected by the terrible incident in Morriston this week, but as ever, we are so proud of those organisations, emergency responders and individuals in the community who have stepped forward to provide immediate support in their community. We're launching this appeal to complement the amazing efforts already in place locally, and will be contacting organisations on the ground to explain how they can refer people for financial support in the next couple of days.”

"We have no reservations about recommending Localgiving to any third sector organisation looking to raise funds, whether in an emergency, or for a longer term campaign - they have been brilliant at every stage"

Carr continued; “SCVS is the umbrella support charity for voluntary and community groups in Swansea, and a registered charity itself. We are registered with the Fundraising Regulator. Every penny of the money donated to this appeal will be distributed to those in need – SCVS are not receiving any financial renumeration from this appeal, and the Localgiving platform does not take any commission from funds donated. Whatever you are able to give, large or small, will be appreciated."

Swansea Council Leader Rob Stewart added: “The response of the community has been incredible and people are rallying around to do whatever they can to support those affected by this devastating event.The council, alongside our partners, are doing everything we can to support residents and all those affected by providing accommodation to those who’ve needed it free of charge. We are with the people of Morriston and will continue to be with them in the coming months with further support and advice that they may need. People have been asking what they can do to help and that is why I’d encourage anyone who is able to do so to donate to this appeal to support those that have been directly affected by this tragedy.”

Make a donation to this emergency appeal here.