Here we have another wonderful update from the special needs class in Lebanon, where the children have been learning all about shapes. They have also been consolidating their knowledge of numbers, and using coloured clay to make the shape of each number. Watch Video The teachers and parents are delighted by the marked improvement of each child’s ability to concentrate. Their vocabulary and pronunciation is also improving dramatically. If you wish to contribute towards this very worthwhile project, please use the DONATE link or details of our charity’s bank account. Many thanks to those of you who have helped to make the class such a success, be it by way of a financial donation or by your hard work and enthusiasm on the ground.
The teachers and parents are delighted by the marked improvement of each child’s ability to concentrate. Their vocabulary and pronunciation is also improving dramatically. If you wish to contribute towards this very worthwhile project, please use the DONATE link or details of our charity’s bank account. Many thanks to those of you who have helped to make the class such a success, be it by way of a financial donation or by your hard work and enthusiasm on the ground.
Here is the latest update from our friend Nour in Lebanon. The special needs children are hard at work as you will see from the video: Watch Video
he past week has been a particularly difficult and desperately sad one for the majority of Syrians. Our young friends are no exception. You will see them in the video as they hold up cards bearing messages of support as well as words of sympathy for Syrian children who have been caught up in the tragedy of last week’s earthquake.
If you would please consider making a donation so that these children can continue to attend their weekly class feel free to use the link pay.rrym.uk or contact us for details of our charity’s bank account. Thanks as ever for your interest and continued support.
Here are the latest highlights from the project that our charity, Refugee Relief Ynys Mon, are supporting in Arsal, Lebanon: Watch Video
Hi Everyone, here, courtesy of our good friend Nour, are some of the highlights from the children’s second visit to the school which took place two days ago. According to what the parents/guardians of the children have been telling Nour, the children spend all week dreaming about the next Tuesday, because it is a special day where they can play, learn, sing and make friends. They can also enjoy some biscuits and drink some juice, something which is never available to them inside their tents. A huge heartfelt thank you to Catherine, Shaz, Sobia, Carys, Claudia and Betty. Your generosity will serve to ensure that this very worthwhile project will continue for as long as possible.
If anyone wishes to donate, please use the DONATE link or our charity’s bank account. Meanwhile enjoy the video!
On 16 December, our charity posted an appeal to raise funds so that Nour and her friends could organise a special party for 20 disabled youngsters living in the camps of Arsal, Lebanon. We reached our target in record time thanks to the generosity of Catherine, Carys, Laura and Betty, and the money was duly sent to Nour. She and her friends wasted no time in putting their plan into action! The party was held on Wednesday, 28 December and thoroughly enjoyed by one and all as you will see from the video. Nour tells me that one little boy is already quizzing his parents regarding when the next party might be!: Lebanon Disabled Party
It is our fervent hope to continue to support as many of these children as possible over the next few months, but we will need your support to be able to do this properly. If you would like to donate please use the pay.rrym.uk or contact me for details of our charity’s bank account. In the words of the video nothing is impossible where hope still exists. Will you please join us in our efforts to prove to these children that indeed it does?
Amongst the most vulnerable group of refugees living in the Arsal camps are those facing permanent disability. They are neglected and not provided with the proper care and resources that most disabled people would consider essential. Some suffered life changing injuries that resulted in them becoming long—term disabled whilst trying to escape the horrors of war. Others were born with some form of disability.
After witnessing their suffering under the harsh winter conditions of the Arsal camps, my friends and I decided to organise a party for 15-20 disabled youngsters, where we can provide them with a good nutritious meal and dessert, something they can’t get in their daily lives. Not only that, but we are also planning to design and teach them some simple exercises which they can use to reduce their anxiety or depression, thereby promoteing their general feelings of well-being. During the party they will have the opportunity to meet with others who face the same or a similar condition. Hopefully this will help to build their confidence and make them feel less isolated. It should also help them to foster new relationships. Our goal is to empower this weak category of refugees to the very best of our ability.
Yesterday was an extremely busy day for the Syrian families in Arsal, Lebanon. It was time to harvest the potato crop that they have tended and grown for the second year in succession. According to my friend Nour it was an excellent harvest! 300 families will be provided with 20 kg of potatoes as a result. Thanks to those of you who gave so generously to make this project feasible.
Here are pictures and a video of the potato distribution to families in some of the camps in Arsal, Lebanon. It never ceases to amaze me just how many miracles can be achieved when a few like-minded folk pull together, even over a distance of approximately three thousand miles in this case. Thanks to everyone who has supported this project, either by making a financial donation, or by putting in hours of hard work on the farm to ensure a successful harvest that has provided 20 kg of potatoes for 300 families! You are all heroes!
If you would like to donate to our work please feel free to use the Donate link or the details of our charity bank account.
Occasionally we are able to supply aid directly to displaced people, either in the UK or in refugee camps, who have been referred to us by a trusted volunteer or group.
However as we are such a small charity with few volunteers, most of the aid we collect is shipped to one of the organisations described in the accompanying “People We Support” document, who we trust to distribute the aid on our behalf. We receive frequent photographs of these distributions, which we show on our Facebook page and Website as evidence to our donors that the aid has reached its intended recipients.
The Trustees declare that the charity has no outstanding debts which are secured by an express charge on any of the assets of the charity at the date of the statement of assets & liabilities.
Declaration
The Trustees declare that they have approved the above report and authorised that it be signed on their behalf by the secretary.
The people we support
This document covers the period from 6 March 2021 to 5 March 2022.
Occasionally we are able to supply aid directly to displaced people, either in the UK or in refugee camps, who have been referred to us by a trusted volunteer or group.
However as we are such a small charity with few volunteers most of the aid we collect is shipped to one of the following organisations, who we trust to purchase or distribute the aid on our behalf. We receive frequent reports and photographs of these distributions, which we show on our Facebook page and Website as evidence to our donors that the aid has reached its intended recipients.
Hand in Hand for Aid and Development, Birmingham
We were able to Send another eight boxes of hand knitted and crocheted items to HIHFAAD before customs rules were tightened even further on the Turkish/Syrian border. Unfortunately we have been unable to send further parcels for the last few months due to customs constraints.
Freeshop Lebanon container
We have continued sending aid by way of clothes, footwear and blankets to the Free Shop, Lebanon, providing them with nine large boxes of aid during the past year. Our boxes are sent to their warehouse in Coventry, from where all in-coming aid is sorted into categories and put on to containers ready for transporting to Lebanon.
Sussex Aid Refugees
Sussex Aid have been instrumental in providing clothes and footwear for Afghan refugees residing in local hotels. We have been able to help them in their efforts by providing them with nine boxes of same..
Katy Last Parcel for Ukraine
At the beginning of March, 2022, we sent a large box of nappies, wet wipes, toiletries and sanitary towels to a fellow humanitarian living in Derbyshire. She was collecting these items to send out to Ukraine, courtesy of a local organisation.
Infant Medication for Turkish Border
In April 2021 we sent £300 to a trusted friend living on the Turkish border, in order to help him purchase special lotion for three young boys with a serious hereditary skin condition.
Heulwen Lebanon Potato Project
In February the charity donated £100 towards an agricultural project that Heulwen had helped establish in Arsal, Lebanon. The Refugee families were able to rent a plot of land on which they planted potatoes, beans, aubergines, tomatoes and onions. The project was very successful and helped to provide many families with a variety of fresh vegetables. Thanks to our contacts on the ground we were able to regularly update our supporters regarding the progress of this project by posting pictures and videos both on our Facebook page and on our Website.
Heulwen Fencing for P4T Primary School, Uganda
Another of Heulwen’s projects was to finance secure fencing for P4T primary school in Uganda. The charity was happy to donate £100 towards this project and the money was transferred towards the end of April. Following discussions with the school principal, Mr Joseph Sindani, the fencing was duly erected. Prior to this the school had been encountering problems with older men entering the premises to try to tempt local girls away from their studies and offering them money for sex.
Nappies and Milk for Turkish boarder
At the end of April we were able to donate the sum of£72 towards the purchasing of nappies an baby milk on the Turkish border. Again pictures were taken and posted on our Facebook page and Website for the benefit of our supporters.
Love Without Boarders, Athens Food Vouchers
In May 2021 we sent £180 to the American charity, Love Without Borders, who had launched a project to provide much of the refugee population residing in Athens with food vouchers. The money was sent using their Paypal charity account.
ThereYouGo Soap and Toiletries
In June we sent £110 to the small Greek organisation, Thereyougo. Our donation enable them to buy soap and other toiletries for residents of the new refugee camp which has recently been built on the island of Samos.
Love Without Boarders, Community Centre Rent
In July 2021 we sent £176 to the American charity Love Without Borders, to help them with the renting of their newly established community centre in Athens. Again we used their charity Paypal link in order to transfer the money.
Gaza Desalination Plant
Last year we embarked on a project to raise funds which would facilitate the digging of a well and the installation of a desalination plant in the village of Cuza, Gaza. We succeeded in raising £1132 which we transferred directly to the company carrying out the work, Abdul Salam Yaseen and sons, who were involved in organising and carrying out the work. The money was transferred in July 2021. As ever we posted a number of pictures and videos on our Facebook page and Website showing how the work was progressing, and again once it had been completed.
Infant Medication for Turkish Border
Another £35 was sent to our friend on the Turkish border in August 2021 to cover the cost of infant medication. This was to help him purchase medicine for a small baby with digestive issues.
Bridge2 Haiti
Following the earth quake in Haiti, it was decided that we should donate £100 to the charity Bridge2 to help with their emergency restoration work. The money was transferred to them in October 2021.
Humming Bird Toy Appeal
Last December we purchased toys and games totalling £53 from Amazon. These we duly donated to a local community organisation, the Hummingbird project, who were running an appeal to provide less fortunate children with Christmas gifts. Having purchased the items on Amazon, we arranged for them to be delivered directly to the Hummingbird project who are based in Abergele.
Lebanon Global Helping Hands
Towards the end of last year we launched another fundraiser to help purchase food baskets for families living in the camps of Arsal, Lebanon. We succeeded in raising £1350 which we transferred to the British charity, Global Helping Hands who were responsible for setting up the original project. The money was transferred to them at the end of December. Again pictures and videos of the distributions were posted both on our Facebook page and Website.
Care4Calais
Care4Calais is a volunteer run charity delivering essential aid and support to refugees living in the worst conditions across Northern France and Belgium. We believe in a fair and tolerant British society and advocate for a welcoming and inclusive attitude towards refugees. Care4calais.org is a UK Registered Charity #1169048
RRYM has supplied second-hand winter coats, men’s jeans, winter hats and socks. These were sent via Rob Lorrie by courier in 4 20kg boxes in November 2021.
Pobl i Bobl – Bangor (Cefnogi Ffoaduriaid/Refugee Support)
Founded as a response to the beginning of the European refugee crisis in 2015, Pobl i Bobl (Welsh for People to People) aims to help people in crisis by providing physical aid and personal support, regardless of race, religion and location.