Since returning from Lesbos in the summer the trustees have been in constant awe of the work being undertaken by the volunteers in Greece. Driven by their dedication and guided by their knowledge on the ground we started to collect much needed aid for the refugees arriving there and went on a mission to co-ordinate the collection of aid here in the UK.
None of us in the UK had ever done this before and in reality we didn’t have a clue. We will be eternally grateful to Yorkshire Aid who welcomed us with open arms, showed us the ropes and shared their wombling expertise. I am not sure we realised quite how long it would take to collect and sort through the donations to get it ready to send to Lesbos, what an eye opener.
We also didn’t know what to expect after announcing the start of our collecting and I can’t express how overwhelmed we have been by people’s kindness. Van loads of blankets and sleeping bags, financial donations and hours and hours of volunteer’s time given freely to make this a reality.
And now our bags are packed and we are ready to go.