CRAG Collection for refugees

Sun 18 Nov 2018, 13:41

Yes, and Rob has sent photos back of the unloading. See them at m.facebook.com/charlburyrefugee/

Sat 17 Nov 2018, 20:04

It happened today and now it is done. A huge and grateful thank you on behalf of the hundreds of refugees this collection will help. Thank you to those who brought food, clothing, toiletries. Thank you to helpers who sorted and folded, boxed and labelled, who loaded the van, baked the cake, made the coffees. Thank you to those who sourced the boxes from shops and businesses and thank you to those businesses for their support and for vehicle parking.

Thank you to a dedicated group of fantastically dedicated volunteers from Charlbury, Chippy, Middle Barton, Woodstock, Church Enstone and Fulbrook who have worked tirelessly to collect donations beforehand, and worked so hard today. Thank you to everyone in those places who made contributions to them or delivered personally to the Quaker Meeting House. Thank you to the Quaker Friends who have allowed us to take over their peaceful space for this project.

Thank you to those of you who came and then stayed to help with making up boxes, labelling, bagging unsuitable items and those who took them away to recycle or to charity shops, and to generally help where help was needed.

Not least, thank you to Rob and Maxine whose job is not yet done. After a full on day today they will be driving the hire van to East London tomorrow to deliver the goods for onward transportation by container, organised by the charity Help Refugees, to Attika's warehouse on the Greek island of Lesvos.

Last but not least, we welcome contributions towards the cost of the hire of the van. If you feel moved to contribute, our bank account is 089299 65789036 or you can make a cheque out to Charlbury Refugee Action Group and deliver it to 19 The Green, Charlbury OX7 3QA. Any excess will go to the work of Help Refugees in Greece.

Sun 11 Nov 2018, 20:19

CRAG is collecting clothing and food to help refugees on the Greek island of Lesvos. You can bring items to the Quaker Meeting House in Market Street on Friday 16th 6-8pm or Saturday 17th 9.30-12 noon. We are collecting adult and children's jeans and joggers, T-shirts, jumpers, coats, hygiene items, socks, hats, gloves and scarves, trainers and boots (size 35-45, no wellies.) Tinned tomatoes, chickpeas or beans (not baked beans), oil, tea, sugar flour and long life milk would also be greatly appreciated. See the Events page for more info about collection.

Wed 7 Nov 2018, 13:04

We are often asked if children's clothing is needed. Often it isn't. This time it is. The items that are asked for are kids' joggers, jeans, T-shirts, socks, hats, gloves and scarves. Donations must be clean and in good condition.

Please bring any of the above items to the Quaker Meeting House in Market Street on Friday 16 between 6 and 8pm, or Saturday 17 between 9.30 and 12noon. If you need your donations collected, or want to deliver them at a different time, please email charlburyrefugee@gmail.com

Mon 5 Nov 2018, 17:22 (last edited on Mon 5 Nov 2018, 18:23)

People often think the 'crisis' is over. It isn't.

611 people arrived on the Greek islands by boat in the last week alone.

Statistics for October show that 114 boats arrived on the islands in total, half of them on Lesvos, with 19,601 people 'stuck' and awaiting transfer to the mainland. Minors account for anything up to half the occupants of each boat. Total arrivals so far in 2018 are up 17.4% on last year.

Most people arrive with no more than the clothes they stand up, soaked in salty water.

This is where CRAG comes in, trying to help volunteers out there on the ground to give food, clothes and dignity to these people. It shouldn't be like this, but it is.

See the collection info at www.charlbury.info/events/5958

Sat 3 Nov 2018, 16:05

The Charlbury Refugee Action Group has received an urgent appeal for clothing and food for refugees on the Greek island of Lesvos. Collecting for refugees is a challenge, because there are no scheduled transports of goods. We have to react quickly to take advantage when we hear a container is scheduled to leave. That's what's happened here. We've just learned that there is a container going out from London later this month and we are scrambling to collect as much as possible to ship. You can find a complete list of goods wanted and info on how to deliver or have your stuff collected in the Events page of this site (under events for 16-17 November). Or contact me through the site. I'm one of the collectors.