Refugee Rights Greece Project #59937

Take Action for Refugees in Europe

by ForRefugees

Project Report | Feb 26, 2025
Taking Action for Refugees

By Amber Bauer | CEO

We funded an essential laundry expansion

Thanks to your kindness, we continue to be there for some of the world's most disadvantaged people who are living as asylum seekers and refugees in Europe.

Only thanks to your compassion and empathy have we been able to continue providing urgent humanitarian and human rights support. Since our last update in October 2024, it's been busy over winter and fundraising increases over Christmas, and so we've been able to support -

an estimated 66,000 women, children and men
in 6 countries (Greece, Bosnia, Serbia, Lithuania, France and the UK)
supporting 74 projects
for food, phone credit, mental health, clothes, children's play, childcare, youth education and activities, first aid and medical, tents and sleeping bags, emergency supplies in winter, laundry, sport, housing, legal aid and more.
run by 32 trusted partners on the ground

“When are you coming back?” - asked a 6-year-old from Côte d’Ivoire who recently joined NGO Lighthouse Relief's sports sessions. They were happy to tell him the sessions started again the next day. “Tomorrow, when I get back from school, I will go to the door and wait for you. I have been practising every day and I have gotten really good!”

Myself and the team have continued our self-funded trips providing in-person and practical help on the ground with our NGO partners including Northern France in December, Greece (Chios island) in January 2025 and Lithuania (Vilnius) in February.

"Our team is committed to going the extra mile, particularly for those facing urgent needs. Recently, a father arrived late in the afternoon carrying blankets infested with scabies, desperate to protect his children and provide them a safe, warm place to sleep. Although the timing was challenging, our team stayed past closing hours to ensure the blankets were washed, dried, and returned that night." ~ Selfm.aid Skills Factory, Samos (Greece)

ForRefugees only exists thanks to donations like yours. In such a hostile time for refugees there is no government or public funding and the gaps we and our partners do our best to fill are big. But don't be overwhelmed and feel you can't make a difference! ForRefugees does the hard work for you and makes every cent count! Thank you for joining us one world together for Refugees when humanity and human values apply to everyone.

Your friends at forRefugees

Amber & the team

We contributed to popular kids sports activities

Links:

Permalink

Oct 16, 2024
Supporting People's Right to Seek Safety

By Amber Bauer | CEO

Amber & Merel with the Amurtel Team

Thank you for supporting people's rights to seek safety. As Governments become ever more hostile towards refugees, our partners have been hard at work filling humanitarian gaps with practical aid, support and kindness.

Trustees Amber, Ingrid and Merel were back in Greece last month seeing first hand the difference made by NGO's to people's lives - grassroots charities that your donations help keep open. From Amurtel's calm and safe haven helping 400 women a month, to Saffron Kitchen’s flavoursome and delicious meals feeding 500 people in precarious living conditions every day, to skills learning that benefit 1000 people a month at Selfm.aid Skills Factory for refugees on the island of Samos. Each visit inspired us more and more.

Your donations since June alone have contributed to 11 grants ensuring vital services have made a difference to an estimated 21,179 people. Here's just three examples of the difference you're making to real people's lives, every day.

"My favourite thing about Alpha Land is the music and the art! I love everything here" - asylum seeker in Samos Refugee Camp

ForRefugees supported the Samos Volunteers Alpha Land Project with a grant for £3000.

"Since coming to AMURTEL, I’m learning a lot about my body and my health. Important things that women should know.
Little by little, it is getting easier to talk about this." - asylum seeking young mum pregnant as a result of sexual assault on her journey

ForRefugees supported Amurtel with a grant for £1000 to provide perinatel and mental health education.

"A full-circle moment was hiring two of our much beloved team members, both of whom previously lived in Lagadikia camp and regularly visited IHA's community centre. Having learnt English at our community centre, they left Lagadikia to begin their humanitarian careers as interpreters at an international NGO. A few years later, they returned to IHA as part of our management team, and played a key role in the management and strategic-development of our Lagadikia Community Centre project." - InterEuropean Humanitarian Aid (IHA)

ForRefugees supported IHA with a grant for £4255 towards an essential replacement vehicle.

forRefugees only exists with your donations. The grants you fund truly make a difference to people's lives. Thank you for joining us Together for Refugees where humanity and human values apply to everyone.

#InSolidarity

Amber & the team

forRefugees

Amber & Merel with the Alpha Land Team

The Saffron Kitchen Team preparing to feed 500

All smiles at the selfm.aid Barber Shop!

Links:

Permalink

Jun 20, 2024
Giving Babies a Healthy Start - Spotlight

By Amber Bauer | CEO

"The doctors asked me why my son does not grow, but we have no food." - refugee Mum, Greece

It's your donations that have made it possible for us to grant a grassroots NGO called CHEERing (Greece) £2500 to help mum's and children in the same or simliar positions as this one. People who have been let down by governments and large aid organisations, and who only have small NGOs left to count on.

Thanks to your kindness, the small, mostly volunteer team, at CHEERing can continue regularly testing the iron levels of pregnant women living in refugee camps. This work has identified a staggering 57% as anaemic (compared to the Greek average of 15.1%). At the same time, malnutrition being suffered by people in camps, where only state food is available, is effecting the growth of babies during pregnancy and stopping new mamas from producing enough breast milk for their little ones.

CHEERing weigh and measure babies and children to track their growth and provide as many multivitamins, essential supplements and additional nutrient-rich food for these mums, babies and small children as they can.

Can you imagine for one moment not having access to the nutrition needed to keep your child healthy?

This is one of several grants awarded by forRefugees to our inspirational grassroots partners since our last report. We're currently working with more than 70 frontline partners in seven European countries, supporting them as best we can to provide for thousands of people's most basic needs for life. But, as well as aid, our network is a friendly face, it's kindness, empathy and compassion, for people who are otherwise being met with hostitlity. Our network of donors and frontline teams are together showing solidarity and humanity and giving people the hope they need in some of their most difficult times, to keep going towards a brighter future.

Thank you for being with us on the right side of humanity and the right side of history.

In solidarity

Amber & all at forRefugees

Permalink

1 2 ›

About Project Reports

Project reports on GlobalGiving are posted directly to globalgiving.org by Project Leaders as they are completed, generally every 3-4 months. To protect the integrity of these documents, GlobalGiving does not alter them; therefore you may find some language or formatting issues.

If you donate to this project or have donated to this project, you can receive an email when this project posts a report. You can also subscribe for reports without donating.