Print Icon
 
   
   
   

September

Newsletter

The summer, the little of it we appear to have got this year, is a busy time.

 

It's time for us to think about the winter ahead, clothing that will be needed for the cold months ahead and importantly shelter. Shelter can be salvaged in the summer through the festivals, a project that is led by Angus from Herts for Refugees. 


I asked Angus to provide us with an update of the summers events, this is from him. 


Herts for Refugees have been doing festival salvage for around eight years but the real game-changer for us was when we started working with HaAD in 2022. We went from collecting a couple of van loads to whole trucks, bursting with abandoned tents and sleeping bags..! 


This year, we set an ambitious target of filling the 40ft HaAD articulated trailer AND three 7.5 tonne trucks. We didn’t get off to the best of starts when Creamfields South, held in Hylands Park in Chelmsford, was cancelled, along with Standon Calling in Herts. Not being the type to give in easily, we redoubled our efforts at our other events and for the first time, we salvaged at Leeds and Reading on the same days. Quite the logistical challenge but we managed to pull it off. 


As you may have seen, all manner of things are left behind at festivals but we only collect tents and sleeping bags. We mainly go for small, pop-up tents as these are the quickest to fold down - once you’ve been shown the technique! With limited time on the fields, we need to collect as many as possible before the cleaning teams catch up and everything is bulldozed. It’s a sad fact that many perfectly good items end up in landfill or incinerated 


Thanks to the hard work of our volunteers, we were able to achieve our goal and on Sunday 8th of September, four trucks rolled into our partner organisation’s warehouses in France.. We supply Utopia56, Care4Calais, Refugee Women’s Centre and Vent Contraire in Calais & Mobile Refugee Support in Dunkirk. 


It’s fair to say they were absolutely delighted with the sheer quantity of aid, the standout comment being “This is more in one delivery than we would normally receive in a whole year..!” The total amount of equipment salvaged is enough to supply around 7,500 people. 


It’s an astonishing statistic but we should always remember that we shouldn’t have to do this. People forced to flee from war, persecution and disaster shouldn’t have to depend on charities for shelter and warmth in Europe in 2024. But while they do, we, along with HAAD, will be there for them.


Going forward, in addition to the tents that we salvage, we are hoping to have an ongoing commitment from Green Yurts who provide a lot of the pre erected tents for festivals around the country.  We were recently contacted by them as they are looking to provide a number of large bell tents.  We would like to transport these to Ukraine to help Ukraine on Palms.  More on this story in due course…  


If you are a corporate entity that can also help in any way, please do get in touch, partnerships such as this make a huge difference to our work.

We can help ensure that goods such as these tents and those from Green Yurts don't end up in landfill, it's a win win win! 

More beds and sofa's

Following on from the successful project to deliver 420 mattresses to our partner Ukraine on Palms, Whitbread (Premier Inns) in conjunction with their logistics partner Delivered have kindly offerred to donate a huge quantity of Sofa and Truckle beds. Whitbread have also provided funding to transport the beds via Ukrainian backloads.

 

The project began around a month ago with the first two artic loads of around 120 beds already being delivered to Kiev and Novomoskovsk city (Dnipro region). A further two loads are in progress.  It is hoped that there will be many more to follow.

 

The beds are really useful aid for families uprooted from their homes into temporary accommodations all over Ukraine. A good night's sleep has become a luxury to many of these families and we are really pleased that we can help in some small way.


The image below shows some of these beds, and also fridges supplied by Blackstone Stripout. 

                   
                   
                   

              Trucks continue to roll

              In addition to the great work that we have all been doing moving tents and beds, the trucks, mainly backloads are continuing to head to Ukraine. 


              We are now on truck 62, with two more trucks heading out this week. Truck 63 is a HaAD load that is heading back to Ukraine and truck 64, which should leave later this week will be part of our partnership with TEECH.  This load will be split 50/50 between Ukraine and Moldova. 


              For our recent loads (any many loads before) we have been helped by Skanda Vale, a non-denominational spiritual centre located in Carmarthenshire, Wales, near the village of Llanpumsaint.


              We have recently received 12 pallets of food from them, including sugar, flour, rice and pulses, with a possible 6 more to come. 


              Thank you Skanda Vale for your support over the years, long may it continue.  

              A new trustee

                 

              Last but certainly not least we would like to officially introduce Mark Belton who has recently joined as a Trustee. 


              After qualifying as an ACA accountant with KPMG, Mark spent time working on the Rwandan refugee programme as a Chief Accountant with Concern Worldwide based in Tanzania, before gaining 24 years’ experience working in a PLC main market listed Industrial company, of which 13 years were as a successful, global CEO and CFO.


              At the end of 2023, Mark joined Hope and Aid Direct as a volunteer with a view to using this experience to support and strengthen the organisations governance and finance areas of the charity. 


              Mark was invited to join the core team and be a trustee in July ’24 and we and he are both delighted that he is now central to our operations. 


              Unfortunately Benjamin Western who was part of the trustee team is no longer a trustee but is still involved in the charity as a loyal volunteer. 

                   
                   
                 
                 

              Follow Us On

              You are receiving this email as you signed up for our newsletters.

              Want to no longer receive these emails?

              Unsubscribe