150 tonnes of aid shipped from Cornwall
27 June 2019, 17:18 | Updated: 27 June 2019, 18:39
Since 2016 volunteers across the South west have sorted through, boxed, bagged, labelled, loaded and shipped over 100 tonnes of humanitarian aid.
The refugee crisis has not disappeared, and various groups, projects and charities are still working tirelessly in the background to collect, sort and ship aid to where it is needed.
For the last 6 months, volunteers from various refugee support groups and charities have been collecting and sorting through thousand’s of donated items of clothing, food, toiletries and baby items to prepare for the next 40ft container shipment leaving Saltash on the 29th June.
By working together with other refugee aid groups including One and All Aid, Wadebridge Refugee Community Project, Launceston Refugee Support, Ottery Refugee Response Group, Beyond Borders and Bude Welcomes Refugees, OHOB have organised the shipment of eight 40ft containers since February 2016.
Each container has been filled with essential aid items, which have been collected and donated from the community, not only here in the South west of England, but as far as Norfolk, Reading and East London.
As well as the refugee groups and projects collecting for this next shipment, several schools and communities across Devon and Cornwall have also donated various items of humanitarian aid for the container. Devon Ethnic Minority and Traveller Achievement Service (EMTAS) have been organising collections across the schools in Devon; the amnesty group at Clyst Vale Community College in Exeter organised a large collection for the container of nappies, wipes, food, clothing and toiletries with the school.
Volunteers will then have three hours to fill the container, which arrives on Saturday 29th June, before it begins its two-week journey to Attika Human Support in Lesvos, where the items will be distributed amongst the camps.
The container will be loaded with around 8 – 10 tonnes items including 1500 bottles of shower gel, dozens of nappies, wet wipes and toiletries, clothing, tinned and dried food, buggies and pushchairs, towels, blankets, sleeping bags and hundred’s of new wellington boots.
Humanitarian aid collections take place throughout the year so that a continual supply of aid from the South west can be shipped.
Not only do OHOB ship abroad they also support a number of local homeless and charitable projects across the South west and support with household and essential items for resettlement.
Van deliveries to Mobile Refugee Support in France leave Cornwall every 3 months with the next one leaving in July. The next 40ft container to Attika in Lesvos will be shipped in the winter to help support those in the camps during the cold winter months.
The container will be filled with winter items, including several hundred tents and sleeping bags salvaged from festivals across the UK.
A full list of donation points and what to donate can be found on the Facebook page: OHOB – Open Hearts Open Borders – Refugee Aid or on the website https://ohob.org.uk/donate/
New and updates are published on a regular basis on the Facebook page and twitter @OHOBPlymouth
For further information please email info@ohob.org.uk
