Members of St Andrew’s Church, Chorleywood U3A, a local choir, a swimming group, Shamblers walking group and a van owner have all responded to an appeal to help refugees in Iraq by donating clothes and equipment.
The collection was organised by St Andrew’s on behalf of Amnesty International and the Foundation for Relief and Reconciliation in the Middle East (FRRME).
“We put out an appeal for warm winter clothes, shoes, bedding and equipment and were overwhelmed by the response.” says Judith Palfreman of St Andrew’s, “The refugees, mainly Christian, have been driven North into Kurdistan by IS. It is winter, with freezing, wet conditions and the situation is desperate. A lady called Samara Levy from Brighton was aiming to fill one articulated lorry to be driven out, but, thanks to extra funds, it ended up being 9 lorries and one container. We contributed by filling two fully loaded transit vans.”
Chorleywood came up trumps.
“People had great fun helping to sort the items and packing and stacking banana boxes which were provided by Budgens, Three Sons, J &J May, Sainsbury, Waitrose and Tesco. It was a very hectic two weeks! One lady lost her own coat in the mele and her door keys were in the pocket – it took us a while to find it!”
The entire operation is carried out by volunteers so those involved can be sure everything goes straight to where the need is.
“It was very exciting to be part of the project.” adds Judith, “Our next collection will be for spring and summer clothing but it is on hold until funds are raised for more lorries, which cost £6,500 each and hold enough to 6000 refugees.”
https://www.facebook.com/FRRME
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