Help Refugees in Belgrade
Campaign is over.... we'll be fundraising for another winter project very soon, so please support us for that.
Thanks very much for reading and blessings to those that shared or supported our campaign.
My name is John Waddup. I am from the UK and have worked in the events and construction industry for most of my adult life.
I am currently in Thessaloniki, Northern Greece supporting charities that help refugees on the ground. One of the charities I am working with is called Respond and it helps to provide shelter and basic education facilities for thousands of refugees. Thanks to charities such as these, the situation in Greece is slowly improving.
Respond’s new focus is helping refugees in Serbia. As European borders are tightened and closed, thousands of migrants have become stranded in Belgrade. Serbia is at risk of becoming a new “dumping zone”, where people are “stuck” in over-crowded camps. Adults and children are living, and dying, in squalid conditions and sub-zero temperatures in warehouses across the city.
We have identified an area in great need. Over 2000 refugees are sheltering in an abandoned railway warehouse with no heating, food or basic sanitation. Temperatures are below freezing during the day and can plummet to as low as -16C at night. Children as young as 5 are suffering from frostbite and toxic smoke inhalation as refugees burn what they can to keep warm. Our aim is to provide showers, clean heat sources, raised floors/accommodation and toilets to improve their basic living conditions. The longer term plan is to help re-house as many families as possible.
We hope to raise £5000 to help to facilitate this project. We will use the money to buy building materials, toilets and boilers to provide hot water. Specifically, £3000 is needed for building materials and £2000 for plumbing equipment and water heaters. Any further money raised will be used to provide cooking facilities.
We have a mobile workshop which we will need to transport from Greece to Serbia, along with our team of 6 skilled volunteers.
The sooner we reach our target the quicker we can provide thousands with a better quality of life.
Thank you for reading. Please help us to help people.
John xxx
