'Children are in danger of ebola and they need our help'

Wayne Rooney has been joined by Scotland boss Gordon Strachan and midfielder Darren Fletcher in calling on the British public to join the fight against ebola.

Their promotion of Unicef’s Emergency Ebola Appeal will be broadcast during Tuesday night’s match between Scotland and England at Celtic Park.

Rooney, Strachan, Fletcher and The FA all urge fans to make a contribution to Unicef’s Emergency Ebola Appeal, and you can do so by texting the word ‘KIT’ to 70333 to donate £5. 

100 per cent of all text donations will go to the charity to be spent on the charity's ebola appeal, and the UK government will match pound-for-pound all public donations made during the game. 

Rooney said: "As a dad, I can't imagine what it’s like for your child to be at risk of this deadly disease. Right now, children are in danger from Ebola and they need our help.

“Tune in to the game to see two footballing nations come together to help protect children and their families and find out how you can help too."

The FA has joined in supporting the fight against ebola, and has donated £10,000 to the Union of Women’s Traders’ Association of Sierra Leone, an association supported by UNICEF’s Health Sensitisation and Sanitisation Programme.

Isha Johansen, president of the SLFA, said: “On behalf of the Sierra Leone Football Association, we would like to thank The FA for supporting us in the global fight against the Ebola epidemic in Sierra Leone.

“Ebola affects all aspects of human life in households, communities, and countries. But our women as carers and children become particularly vulnerable.

“The Union of Women’s Traders’ Association sanitisation programme operates in the market areas in and out of which people commute every day.

“The disease is ever-present as neither toilet nor water facilities are available, creating a breeding ground for the virus.

“These areas will benefit from the construction of toilets, water wells and taps."

Jane Bateman, head of international relations for The FA said: “The ebola crisis resonated with us not only because of its huge toll on human life and the dangers of it spreading, but because of its devastating impact on day-to-day life in countries in West Africa.

“Using sport, and in particular football, we hope our contribution will complement the efforts of the UK Government and UNICEF fundraising efforts during the Scotland versus England match to raise as much money as possible to tackle Ebola, as well as those of the survivors and people of Sierra Leone who face the effects of this crisis every single day.“

The appeal comes as the number of people who have lost their lives to the disease reaches 5,000 and over 13,000 are infected across Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone.

One in five of these patients are children and around 7,000 more children have lost one or both their parents to the disease.

Unicef is working in all three countries to control the disease, providing life-saving supplies to treat and protect children affected, and to support those who have lost loved ones, but the organisation urgently needs more donations to help keep every child safe. 

£5 will help provide supplies for ebola kits – such as gloves, masks, soap and chlorine – to protect children and their families from this deadly virus. To find out more about Unicef’s work on ebola visit www.unicef.org.uk.