Deacon Blue stars launch Wee Box appeal to help people of Zambia

Deacon Blue stars Ricky Ross and Lorraine McIntosh have taken to the streets of Glasgow to launch a charity campaign to help some of the world’s poorest.

The Scottish Catholic International Aid Fund (Sciaf) has launched its annual Wee Box, Big Change appeal, which will this year focus on raising vital funds for people in Zambia.

The annual campaign sees Scots urged to give up a favourite treat like coffee, chocolate, wine or crisps over Lent, and then put the money saved into a Sciaf Wee Box.

The money is then donated to the charity at Easter, and used to help those struggling to survive due to hunger, poverty and a changing climate.

Ross, who has seen the work of the charity first-hand when he and McIntosh travelled to the Democratic Republic of Congo, said the difference made by the appeal cannot be underestimated.

The 65-year-old said: “When we travelled with Sciaf, it was heart-breaking to see how many families really struggle to grow the food they need or get the necessities of life we take for granted, such as water, a dry home or some money.

“Floods, droughts and storms are wreaking havoc with their lives. For so many of our poorest sisters and brothers, hunger is the beginning of a tragic downward spiral. But it doesn’t have to be.”

McIntosh, 58, said: “Even giving £1 will make a big difference. When added together these tiny acts make a huge impact.”

Sciaf said the part of Zambia it is focusing its efforts on this year is around Kabwe – one of the most polluted towns in the world.

Most families grow their food in small plots near their homes but as the climate changes, their life becomes more perilous as the risk of crop failures rises.

Ross said desperate hunger can have tragic consequence, as he told of a woman the charity worked with named Catherine.

“Hunger meant poisoning her family by mistake as she had to search in the woods for mushrooms to feed her grandchildren,” he said.

“As a 65-year-old widow, she had to search to find food alone.”

Penelope Blackwell, Sciaf’s public engagement director, said this year’s Lent appeal is “so important”.

She added: “There are so many terrible things happening around the world right now, that are in the newspaper every day.

“But there are also ongoing emergencies in countries across the world that we don’t hear much about – in countries like Zambia where people struggle every day to get food to eat.

“Places where hunger and poverty are devastating lives.”