I AM writing to thank you and all Evening News readers who have supported the joint Unicef/Evening News children's Southern Africa emergency appeal, which ran for one week during August.

The total raised by your readers in just those six days was £2,945 - every penny of which will make a great difference to some of the six million children across Southern Africa who continue to face some of the worst food shortages in years.

Thanks to the support of people like your readers, Unicef, the United Nations Children's Fund, has been able to put in place a massive emergency response in Southern Africa.

For example, in Zimbabwe, we have expanded our feeding programme to reach more than 130,000 malnourished children under the age of five and are also working to control the threat of further outbreaks of life-threatening diseases such as cholera.

More than 180,000 tons of fortified food has already been sent to Malawi, where an estimated 3.2 million people are affected by the food shortages.

Your support for this appeal, and previous ones, shows you commitment to making the world a better place for the next generation and helping the world's children.

My colleague, Linda McCaughey - Regional Fundraising Manager in the Midlands - will keep you informed of developments in the region.

However, if you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact her directly on 01952 630303.

On behalf of the children of Southern Africa and from everyone at UNICEF - thank you.

DAVID BULL,

Executive Director.