WE NEED: Blankets : Towels : Sleeping Bags
There are 20,000 refugees stranded on the Greek Islands of Lesvos, Samos, and Chios, over half are women and children. Almost all are living in tents in overcrowded camps with limited access to toilets and washing facilities. They are reliant on humanitarian aid for essentials.
THEIR lockdown is far far worse than ours –
Please Can You Help?
Imagine living in a tent in winter – thousands of families are doing this on our doorstep in Greece. Can you help us help them?
York Rotary has a team of volunteers ready to collect your surplus blankets - towels - and sleeping bags - which will be sent via Hope and Aid Direct (see more about them below)
to refugees in these Greek Islands
Please spread the word -
we filled over 40 boxes recently
but we need more!!
Through York Rotary, you can donate your unwanted items – through Hope and Aid Direct, they will be delivered to Greece to help refuges survive the winter.
- Call or email one of our York Rotary collectors (see map and list)
- or email me and I can arrange collection – or tell you more about the project.
THANK YOU for helping people who cannot help themselves
Diane Roworth Project Co-ordinator, York Rotary
dianer@yorkrotary.co.uk
Thank you Eleanor
Eleanor, a Trustee of MySight York, is pictured here with the 2nd of 2 blankets she has knitted and donated to the project.
Also on the right in the photo is Diane Roworth, our project co-ordinator who is a volunteer with Hope and Aid Direct and has joined several convoys travelling out to the Greek Islands delivering aid. She is a member of York Rotary.
Diane pictured at an "overflow" refugee camp in Samos
More about Hope & Aid Direct
York Rotary is partnering with Hope and Aid Direct on this project. Here is an extract from their website which explains more about their vital humanitarian work.
"We are 100% volunteer led UK based humanitarian aid charity operating mainly in mainland Europe. We are a non political, non religious charity. We take aid, not sides!
We have volunteers spread throughout the UK. Nobody takes a salary, so all of the money you donate ends up providing aid to people who really need it.
Teams from all over the UK join together to form a convoy of aid trucks driving for up to six days to reach their destination. They are then supported by volunteers who fly directly to the destination and volunteers in the UK that acquire and pack aid.
Our current focus is the migrant crisis in Greece. With in excess of 60,000 refugees stranded in Greece at the moment this is where we see the greatest humanitarian aid need."
