Christian Aid Week is an annual door-to-door fundraising drive by the charity Christian Aid. The drive is held each year in Britain during the second week of May, when thousands of volunteers post red collection envelopes to households around the country. Held each year since 1957 the event celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2007, making it Britain's longest running fundraising week.
Christian Aid works with 700 local organisations across 50 developing countries. Working with poor communities, it trains people to deal with the effects of climate change and prepares them for the threat of natural disasters. These local organisations - or ‘partners’ – also work on HIV, training and education, health and sanitation and peace and reconciliation.
In 2007 the organisation encouraged people to plant trees in support of its overseas work on climate change projects.[1] The charity aimed to raise £15.5 million from the annual fundraising week in 2007, and approximately 300,000 volunteers across the United Kingdom posted the well known red envelopes through millions of letterboxes.
In 2013, £12.6 million (or 13% percent of the total income) were raised during this week.[2]