Dear friends,
Many of you have been asking where and how you can help Syrian refugees over the last week – and it is inspiring to see how many people want to support. It is no bad thing that this crisis and the plight faced by Syrians has once more hit the front page and is tugging at our consciences. But we must remember that the current situation faced by the thousands of refugees is a terrible consequence of an ongoing conflict, which continues away from our borders, and has done for the last four years. A long-term solution must be found in the region and we should demand that our government does more to help Syrians both at home and overseas.
Below is an explanation of how your donations can help through the Hands Up Foundation and some other ideas you might want to consider.
Our work
We have run several appeals over the last three years supporting the provision of urgent relief in and around Syria. One of the appeals we are most proud of pays the salaries of a medical team at a hospital in Aleppo and has been running since 2012. This funding supports them as individuals and their families, while keeping the hospital open and providing life-saving treatment for patients. The benefits that their work provides to a fragile community caught in a war zone are multiple.
The Hands Up Foundation hope that these salaries offer an alternative to those Syrians who have found a way to survive in Syria in spite of the circumstances. The appeal gives them a choice to avoid the dangers of travelling to an uncertain future elsewhere.
If you’d like to support Hands Up for Medical Salaries in Aleppo further please have a look here:https://mydonate.bt.com/events/medicalsalaries3
Alternatives for your time and money
There will be many options offered by charities and other organisations over the next few weeks. It is worth looking into where the money goes and whether there is a capacity to efficiently distribute it. Here are some charities we would recommend:
Medecins sans Frontieres (‘MSF’) unlike many NGO,s, MSF is independent from government funding and now operates one of the search and rescue operations across the Mediterranean. Having donated to them before and seen their projects in Turkey, we feel your money would be well spent here: http://www.msf.org.uk/
CalAid might be worth investigating if you have belongings or time to donate: http://calaid.co.uk/
Migrant Offshore Aid Station (‘MOAS’) are working with MSF in the search for migrants in the Mediterranean too: http://www.moas.eu/
Doctors of the World have a specific Calais appeal. Again, we have witnessed their work in the Bekaa Valley, Lebanon, with Syrian refugees and believe your donations would be put to good use: http://doctorsoftheworld.org.uk/pages/calais-appeal
The Red Cross are consistently on the front line of any crisis and this one is no exception. Have a look at their website for how they are helping. http://www.redcross.org.uk/…/British-Red-Cross-launches-urg…
If you have any further questions regarding our work or if you want to help by holding a Syrian Supper to raise money, please get in touch.
Thank you.
Louisa, Rose, George and Johnnie
The Hands Up Foundation is a registered UK charity (no. 1156491), regulated by the UK Charity Commission. We set up in April 2014 to remind our friends in Syria that they have not been forgotten. With our partner organisations working on the ground in and around Syria, and with careful consideration we identify projects that we believe will have the maximum impact for those in need. Then we make sure that the necessary funds are raised to implement these projects. So far we have raised over £170,000.
Keeping supporters clued up on our work is important to us. Sign up to keep up to date with where the funds go and the impact they have, and how you can support us.
