Pakistan earthquake disaster; how to help

I was worried by reports after the Tsunami Appeal that too much money was raised by the Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC), which I gave to:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/4265261.stm

This seems to be a potential problem with the (DEC). Because they appeal for money to help in a specific disaster, they may not be able to spend the money elsewhere (Africa, Central America) should they get too much.

I'm not knocking the DEC. It is a great way to reduce duplication of advertising costs and provide a central point for donations and information. I think it also has the advantage of being able to allocate the right amounts of money to different charities that specialise in different aspects of disaster relief.

But just to be sure this time I have given directly to the British Red Cross - as this is one of the charities that provides help in the immediate aftermath of a disaster such as this. If the Red Cross raise too much money for this cause, I imagine I can rely on them to use the money to help where it is needed elsewhere.

The direct link to the Red Cross donations page is:
http://www.redcross.org.uk//standard.asp?id=40290&cachefixer=

And just to show that I have nothing against the DEC:
http://www.dec.org.uk/

Queenie wrote:

DS informs me his school are having a non-uniform day next week and all donations are for the Earthquake disaster appeal ... min. £1

:think: just a thought ... (it's late, I've had too much chocolate!) ... but, how about, I stitch the MSE web addy on a plain t-shirt and he can wear that on his non-uniform day? There's no way of knowing if Teachers/M.o.t.p he'll pass will take down/note the addy ... but, if the e-mail tips increases by even 1 .. surely that's something?

Does that count? Or am I just so tired I'm thinking weird?

If he'll wear it, it sounds fine to me.

two of my personal favourites for regular donations:

http://www.thehungersite.com (just beware of pop ups. ensure your blockers are in place)
and
http://www.aquabox.org good use of £50 donation, great project for schools and scouts, church groups etc

hope these links work directly, if not can somebody kindly re post them with the correct notation.