EU cement industry - helping to improve poverty housing

16 June 2010

His Royal Highness, The Duke of Gloucester KG GCVO, last night joined delegates and their partners at the European cement industry's annual General Assembly's Gala Dinner, where he welcomed a donation of £17,000 on behalf of Habitat for Humanity GB. The charity exists to help some of the world's most vulnerable people out of poverty housing and into decent, basic, dry homes – something many of us take for granted.

"Poverty housing is a blight on humanity and our landscapes and we cannot stand idly by", said Nigel Jackson, chief executive of the Mineral Products Association, as the MPA handed over a cheque to Habitat for Humanity Great Britain."

"Our donation is in fact a donation from every single delegate to the CEMBUREAU¹ General Assembly", added Dr Pal Chana, executive director, MPA Cement. "Traditionally, delegates have received individual gifts from the host country. We took the view that there were many more people who could benefit if we set aside individual expectations and embraced a collective responsibility to those less fortunate.

"The basic building materials that our members produce are the very foundations and fabric of decent homes. Cement, concrete and aggregates can make the difference between a watertight, safe, secure environment in which to raise a family, and poverty housing that harbours destitution, hopelessness and disease. If we can help make even one family's life better, then it is worth it. But we know that £17,000 can make the lives of hundreds of families elsewhere in the world far better.

"MPA has supported Habitat for Humanity for the past year and has raised money for its Haiti appeal through the sale of surplus office furniture. It also 'walked the talk' when it, together with Hanson Cement, Cemex UK, Lafarge Cement UK and Tarmac Buxton Lime and Cement, sponsored a senior member of staff to go to a remote village in Bangladesh, with Habitat for Humanity, to work alongside two families to help them build their own homes."

"We are delighted that we can be of some help to such a worthy cause", said Nigel Jackson, "and very grateful to his Royal Highness for all the hard work he does on behalf of Habitat for Humanity. We will continue to make contributions to this movement as the opportunities present themselves."