The Aer Lingus 2018 UNICEF Ambassadors recently visited Uttar Pradesh in India to learn about some of UNICEF’s life-changing programmes for parents and children in the region tha have been funded in part by the airline. Since the Aer Lingus charity partnership with UNICEF began in 1997, US$21 million has been raised for the charity, helping thousands of children to survive difficult circumstances and to thrive and reach a better future.
As part of the Aer Lingus TakeOff Foundation, Aer Lingus and its staff support UNICEF Ireland through the Change for Good initiative and this year marks Aer Lingus’s 21st anniversary supporting the charity. Change for Good involves the in-flight collection of foreign notes and coins on all long-haul flights, which supports UNICEF’s global mission in advancing and protecting children’s rights in over 150 of the world’s poorest countries and territories.
Following the Aer Lingus UNICEF Ambassadors’ trip to India this year, Aer Lingus invested over €100,000 in the Nutrition Rehabilitation Centres in Uttar Pradesh State, funded by generous passenger donations through the airline’s ongoing Change for Good initiative. The Nutritional Rehabilitation Centres offer support to severely malnourished children and their parents by providing them with special foods, nutritional supplements, feeding demonstrations and medicines. This donation will go a long way in improving the Nutrition Rehabilitation Centres’ services across 750 sub-district facilities and reaching out to 25,000 children, in the State of Uttar Pradesh.
Nuala Byrne, Aer Lingus cabin crew member and UNICEF Ambassador, said: “It was a humbling experience to visit India on behalf of Aer Lingus and to see how the funds our guests have raised are having a real and positive impact on children facing adversity in developing communities. We are sincerely grateful to Aer Lingus guests for their continued support and onboard donations and we look forward to continuing our support of UNICEF in 2018 and helping create a safer, better environment for children worldwide.”
