St Kyrel Trust - Helping the poor help themselves

Christmas Message 2013

Published in 20/01/2017

Another year has gone by, and it is Christmas time again! We would like to wish you: Merry Christmas and a Blessed Happy New Year!

Through your generous support and prayers, we have been able to support the needy students in Egypt. We therefore would like to offer you a heartfelt thanks and may God bless you accordingly!

Current Support and Need

St Kyrel Trust currently supports 850 needy students, by monthly grants of 150 LE (15 GBP) each. We grant each student 14 months/year, which means our yearly commitment is approximately 1.78 million Egyptian Pounds (178,000 GBP). Whilst inflation rates have increased radically and the cost of living has hit an all time peak, we have not been able to increase either the student numbers or the monthly grant.

Difficult Year for Copts in Egypt

2013 has witnessed the second Egyptian revolution in June/July. The followed difficulties have hit the Copts in waves with varying intensities. Most notably are the destruction/burning of more than 70 churches, and the massacre of Copts in several cities and villages in upper-Egypt. The Moslem brotherhood was determined to punish the Copts for supporting the revolution against the ex-president.

New Students

To meet the increasing number of poor Coptic students dropping out of university, we decided to open a new front in El-Behera governorate, where we will be taking an extra 50 students effective 1 January, 2014. This will bring the total number of students on our books to 900 students and our yearly commitment to 190,000 GBP (900 @ 15 GBP for 14 months/year). With an income of 155,000 GBP, this leaves us with a shortfall of approximately 35,000 GBP/year (3,000 GBP/month). We obviously cannot meet this shortfall without the help of our supporters, so please donate generously and spread the word on our behalf.

St Kyrel Trust depends on your generosity towards our brethren and children who struggle and strive to survive with the absolute minimum, in hope of a better future when they graduate, with an ability to earn a living.

So, please visit our sponsor page and provide your details and a volunteer will send you our standing order.

Sponsoring 1 student costs 20 GBP/month

Sponsoring 2 students costs 40 GBP/month

Any other amount is also welcome

Alternatively, if you prefer a one-off payment, this can be done through Pay-pal on our donation page.