A fundraising effort for Typhoon Haiyan survivors in the Philippines over the past weeks has been highlighted by the overwhelming generosity across all Arup regions.

Globally, the firm made an immediate donation of £5,000 to help with the immediate response. In the UK, more than £4,000 has been raised through online donation and there are ongoing discussions with regard to other potential organisations that we may support such as RedR. The Australasian region has generously donated AUS$8,731 via salary sacrifice. With a matching fund from the region, the total amount has reached AUS$17,462. On the other side of the Pacific, Americas staff have also made their donations through payroll deductions or independently. In the East Asia region a total of HK$69,395 has been raised with the Hong Kong office putting up HK$35,960. The region has matched staff donation to the same value, bringing up the total amount of donations to HK$138,790. Among all the East Asia offices, Manila alone has raised more than HK$25,000 in response to the fundraising. The whole office also volunteered help in repacking relief goods at the height of the response. What’s worth noting is, Mario Querol and Wilma Cruz, former Manila staff now with West Midlands, contributed more than HK$3,000 to the fundraising by baking delicacies and selling them to colleagues and friends.

Charity money will be used to help the disaster zones where food, water, medical care and shelters are in desperate need, via the Habitat for Humanity. Typhoon Haiyan, one of the strongest ever recorded, has killed thousands of people and displaced 4.3 million, leaving utter devastation, chaos and a lot of pain behind. Our colleagues in Manila are unharmed, fortunately. The firm as a whole will take a collective view in due course on potential matching of funds through pro bono technical assistance on relief work once it is clearer how we can best contribute our disaster recovery expertise.