New staff, new team
It has been a while since we updated you with news about us and our work. We’ve had a number of new staffing updates. From June 2020 when Sarah Patel went on maternity leave, we have welcomed 4 new staff members.
Here is our GAiN UK team; (from upper left going clockwise) Ellie Staton as Logistics Co-ordinator, Caitlin Lyttle as Communications Co-ordinator, at the helm is Frikkie Greyling, our GAiN UK Director, Arman Ghamari as Mobilisation Co-ordinator and Heidi Helbig as Overseas Sending Co-ordinator. Sarah Patel will be joining us part-time as she looks after her child.
Working remotely has allowed our team to expand as it has (Heidi is based in London and Caitlin in Belfast) but we look forward to the day we can finally meet in person as a team.
Update from Greece
There have been many updates in Greece over the last 18 months. As you may have seen in September 2020, the Moira camp in Lesvos tragically burned down. A new camp has been built housing significantly fewer people for various reasons. This has led to a number of shifts to our work and as a result, we have broadened our support area to Greece as a whole, enabling us to contin ue to work with other European GAiN offices and our partner on the ground, Eurorelief.
In March, we utilised our Amazon wish list for an International Women’s Day Wash Kit appeal and in the last couple of weeks we’re happy to ship these kits to Greece to provide 30 women with a hygiene kit, revealing hope and restoring life and dignity for these women.
Alongside the wash kits, we were also able to send 500kg (15,600) nappies and 3,500 pairs of glasses to our Swiss GAiN office from where they will be distributed to those in need most across our partnerships in Greece.
New Opportunities
In January we expanded our relief projects and became the lead GAiN office for organising aid to Bosnia and Herzegovina. The refugee status in Bosnia has been mainly underreported and so many of us in the UK are largely unaware of the need for refugee support.
We shared about this need on our social media and through email with ways that people could respond. We had an amazing response to this appeal and quickly we were able to send some aid supplies to our partner in Bosnia. In the picture above you’ll see (R-L) Ellie, Frikkie, Arman and a couple of generous volunteers who helped pack the lorry in minus temperatures on a cold wet February day.
We’re continuing to work with our partner Compass 071 and look forward to how we can utilise our resources in the UK to support those in need.
Water for Life
As part of our GAiN Worldwide Relief and Development Projects, we’re excited to announce that we are expanding our work to include the development project Water for Life.
Water for Life Initiative works across Africa (currently Benin, Togo and Tanzania) to partner with local churches and communities to provide safe and clean drinking water for the villages in rural areas. Aside from installing a deep capped well, training is provided which includes Water Committee training, Hygiene and Sanitation, Gender Sensitivity and Family Health training.
The local church community has a unique role in sustainable development, facilitating positive social change in their spheres of influence.
They also help bring the story of God’s unconditional love through the JESUS film showings and establishing new churches.
This has seen over 100,000 people discover who Jesus is and we’re excited about the opportunities for people in the UK to be part of supporting this development project.
Many thanks!
Thank you again for your support of GAiN UK, without our network of people, passionate about supporting those in poverty and crisis situations, we would be unable to work as we do.