Middle East Fundraising Dinner 26 January 2012

Middle East Dinner

(L to R: Huda Nassar [Awareness Foundation Director for the Middle East], HE Prof. Manuel Hassassian, Mrs Amina Khiyami, HE Dr Sami Khiyami, Charles Longbottom [Chair, Awareness Foundation], The Revd Nadim Nassar [Director, Awareness Foundation], Michelle Cooper, George Kanaan, Anita Longbottom and Nofal Barbar)

We are pleased to report that our Middle East Fundraising Dinner on the evening of Thursday 26th January 2012 at the Sloane Club in Chelsea was a great success. It was an impressive evening for us all. The Palestinian Ambassador, HE Prof Manuel Hassassian, spoke to those assembled about Western misunderstanding of the current situation in the Middle East and he was passionate about the challenges faced by Christians in the Middle East, and especially the Holy Land, today. His talk was fascinating and very informative (see photo, below). Also attending the dinner was HE Dr Sami Khiyami, Syrian Ambassador to London, and a number of Middle Eastern business people. At the end of his talk, Prof Hassassian was presented with the Foundation's Cross in recognition of his many years' support of our work (see photo, below).

During the event we raised over £6000 which goes to support our 'Seeds of Awareness' project in the Middle East (see below). We are thrilled by such encouraging results and we offer our most heartfelt thanks to all who took part for their generous support.

There was a special Grand Raffle at the dinner; we would like to thank all who donated prizes, with special thanks to Syrian Air for donating the Top Prize, a return flight to Damascus!

Syrian Air logo

Seeds of Awareness

We are proud to announce the launch of an exciting new project which we believe will help change attitudes and strengthen community harmony at this crucial time for Christians and other faith communities in the Middle East. We shall be launching this project, “Seeds of Awareness”, in early 2012.

“Seeds of Awareness” will feature four main elements which build on all that we have achieved in recent years:

Launching our new Arabic Awareness Course, which supports Christians in the Middle East by empowering them to make sense of their faith and culture in the 21st century and to increase their awareness of their neighbours’ faiths and cultures, so they can live together in peace.

Holding a major Conference in London in October 2012: Delegates to 'Middle Eastern Christians and the Arab Spring' will be drawn internationally from religious, civic and academic leaders. There will also be involvement of the public and the media.

Developing our Arabic language website as a resource to inspire, encourage and strengthen the communities in the Middle East.

Travelling Fellow and Delegations Programmes: to build bridges between East and West.

If you would like to learn more about Seeds of Awareness or about our work in the Middle East, please contact Huda Nassar on 020 7730 8830 or at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .