Increase in requests for Indian child sponsorships

It's not often we report on two press releases in a row, but those are the stories that just happen to strike out fancy today.

Child sponsoring agency Action Aid is reporting a spike in requests for giving money to children in India. This increase started with the award winning success of "Slumdog Millionaire"

In this press release from Action Aid that we found in Reuters Alert Net, the agency tells us about the flood of requests.

With Slumdog mania sweeping the country, the charity ActionAid is having to rush the contact details of scores of Indian children to its offices in the UK.

ActionAid’s fundraising director, Richard Turner confirmed that the unprecedented surge in demand to sponsor children from India had taken the charity by surprise. He said: “We’re calling it the slumdog effect. We haven’t seen such a high level of interest in one country for a long time.”

On average, ActionAid will field just over 500 enquiries a week for child sponsorship.

But the week following the film’s success at the BAFTAS saw the number of enquires rocket to a staggering 1,400 with many specifically asking about children in India.

And since sweeping the board at the Oscars, the film’s effect has continued with ActionAid receiving more and more enquiries about Indian children every day.

Richard Turner continued: “Child sponsorship has transformed the lives of hundreds of thousands of children and is one of the most rewarding ways of giving.

“Sponsors’ money helps towards securing a decent education, better health care and economic security for children and the communities in which they live.”