AN EXPERT on the Syria crisis is giving a talk at a Runcorn church.

Alan Thomlinson, who is leading the Syria crisis response for the international aid agency, CAFOD, will speak about the charity’s response to the crisis at the parish of St Maximilian Kolbe.

Anyone interested is invited to the free talk at 7pm on Wednesday, January 18 in St Edward’s Catholic Church on Ivy Street.

Alan has been working with organisations in Syria and neighbouring countries since the conflict began in 2011.

He said: “The economy is in tatters, the infrastructure, electricity and water systems have been badly damaged, or completely destroyed.

“The school and university system are struggling to educate the next generation of Syrian children and young adults, as hundreds of thousands miss out on vital years of education.

“The grind of six years of war has exhausted everyone.”

According to the UN, the Syrian conflict has killed over 300,000 people. It is estimated that more than half the country’s pre-war population, 13.5 million people, need urgent humanitarian aid – food, water, shelter and protection.

As of December 2016, almost five million Syrians had registered as refugees in neighbouring countries.

Since the launch of CAFOD’s Syria Crisis Appeal, the Catholic Community in England and Wales has donated more than £3.5 million.

This has allowed the charity’s partners on the ground to provide life-saving assistance to tens of thousands of vulnerable families.

Alan added: “Thanks to the compassion and generosity of Catholics across England and Wales, our partners are able to provide vital emergency aid – food, shelter and medical care – to vulnerable families both inside Syria and in neighbouring countries, Lebanon, Jordan and Turkey.

“Yet the conflict in Syria remains the world’s biggest and most urgent humanitarian crisis.”