PEOPLE in Oxford have donated nearly a quarter of a million pounds to the international Ebola appeal.

City residents have been thanked for their generosity after giving £225,400 to the Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC).

It is the latest county effort to help the battle against Ebola, with city scientists developing what they hope will be the world’s first vaccine, and Faringdon aid worker Andy Gleadle leading the construction of two new treatment centres in Sierra Leone, West Africa.

The DEC, made up of 13 UK charities including Oxford-based Oxfam, said it was “humbled” to see how people responded to the crisis, which is devastating communities across West Africa.

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DEC chief executive Saleh Saeed said: “People of Oxford have been incredibly generous and I want to thank everyone who has donated for their kind support.

“This money will help us continue to deliver aid to millions who have been affected by this deadly outbreak.”

It brings the total raised in the appeal since last Thursday to £14m.

Oxfam, which has 90 staff in Liberia and Sierra Leone, is using funding to ensure treatment centres have clean water and sanitation facilities, ensure burial teams have the right protective equipment and give people information about what to do if they believe they are infected.

Deputy humanitarian director Camilla Knox-Peebles said: “This money is hugely important for helping to address every strand of what is needed to stop this disease.”

She said money was also needed in the long-term to ensure countries’ health systems were still able to treat people for ailments other than Ebola.

Oxfam is aiming to raise a total of £30m to help 3.2m people and currently has about 16 per cent of that.

Ms Knox-Peebles added: “In Oxford we have really ramped up our activity to support this.”

A donation of £25 will help protect three families from Ebola by providing them with cleaning kits including bleach, soap and buckets.

A £50 donation can provide protective clothing such as gloves, masks, boots and gowns for three volunteers supporting people under quarantine.

The European Union on Thursday announced it would make £220m available for Ebola vaccine research like the Oxford project.

Mum-of-two Ruth Atkins, from Marcham, near Abingdon, became the first person to be injected with the vaccine in a trial in September.

Professor Adrian Hill, leading the trial at Oxford’s Jenner Institute, said he would apply for “significant” funding.

He said: “If the rapid progress of our trial in Oxford and parallel trials taking place in Mali continues it will be possible to define the safety profile and optimal vaccine dose next month allowing critical very large-scale trials of the efficacy of the vaccine to start immediately afterwards in affected countries.

“These ongoing vaccine trials are part of an unprecedented global vaccine development effort supported by many parties.”

To make a donation to the DEC Ebola Crisis Appeal visit hdec.org.uk or call 0370 606 0900

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