Hackney Cypriot Association calls for refugee help

Helping hands: Lindsey Hood (left) and Andrew Marr (right) join Hackney Cypriot Association volunteers

Somewhere in Greece this winter a child will put on a warm coat donated by a Hackney resident.

The Hackney Cypriot Association (HCA) has issued a call to arms for residents to support refugees in Greece fleeing conflict in the Middle East.

This winter many families are living in makeshift transit camps located at the crossing point between Greece and Macedonia.

Thousands more reach the camps each week, and the HCA, supported by Hackney-based businesses, is asking for help to collect and transport warm winter clothes directly to the camps.

HCA volunteer Andrew Marr is currently at Eidomeni, one of the transit camps, and it was his first hand account of the desperate plight in the camps that initially inspired the appeal.

“We are desperately short of everything, Marr says. “We have not nearly enough coming in.

“With biting Northern Bora winds and driving rain or snow we have a humanitarian disaster waiting to happen here.”

With Calais in the public consciousness and the lionshare of support going there, those trapped in transit camps in Greece can be overlooked.

Andreas Michaelides, Chair of HCA, espouses the type of humanist philosophy and response that the crisis so badly needs.

“What characterises the Cypriots and the Greeks and the Turks is summarised in a word we have, ‘Philoxenus’, which literally means we love foreigners,” he says.

“We recognise their rights, their humanity, and therefore where there is a need we step in to help. It’s just the way we are.”

Mr Michaelides says the response to the appeal so far has been positive, with donations of new and used clothes, cash to transport them and help to package them at designated sites in Hackney.

The first two pallets of clothing have already arrived in Idomeni, says the HCA’s Lindsey Hood.

“The donated goods were of a very high standard and completely in line with what is required for the refugees entering Idomeni.”

Despite the success of the appeal so far, more help is needed, with refugees continuing to flee the war in Syria.

The most pressing need now is to raise funds for transportation, with each delivery of two pallets costing £700 to send via DHL directly to the camps. More volunteers are also still needed.

“Any suggestions on further opportunities will all be greatly received,” says Ms Hood.

“So if you fancy walking, running, swimming or arranging a coffee morning to raise funds for us, we would love to hear from you and we will help in any way we can.”

hackneycypriotassociation.org

Collection points and times:

Bootstrap Company, 18 Ashwin Street, E8 3DL (Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays between 12pm and 3pm).

The Hive Dalston – 260-264 Kingsland Road, E8 4DG (Mondays, Tuesdays, Saturdays and Sundays between 10am and 3pm).

Wayside Community Centre – 69 Lower Clapton Road, E5 0NT (Monday to Friday 9.30am to 4.30pm).

For those living outside Hackney but keen to help, contact Andreas Michaelides, Hackney Cypriot Association, 5 Balls Pond Road, N1 4AX (07941 214413).