Generous Lochaber residents donate blankets for refugees
The generosity of Lochaber residents has enabled a local volunteers group to help fill a 40ft shipping container with winter clothing and blankets for hundreds of refugees and migrants stuck on Greece’s Chios island in the northern Aegean Sea.
Lochaber Supports Refugees (LSR) filled the container this week at Camaghael ahead of it leaving from Muir of Ord on Saturday with other donations from other groups including the Highlands Support Refugees organisation.
LSR’s Lorraine Wheelan commented: ‘The response was huge, we were absolutely inundated with donations and are totally amazed by the kindness and generosity of people from all over Lochaber, the rest of the Highlands, Argyll and further afield.’
The appeal for the blankets and clothing was issued four weeks ago and donations streamed in with eight unpaid volunteers working every week to deal with it.
The items will be handed over to the Chios Eastern Shore Response Team (CESRT), which is a locally organised unit of international volunteers dedicated to providing both immediate and long-term support for refugees on the island as well as local people.
CESRT is one of the last groups remaining on Chios providing vital aid for refugees – even welcoming them as they arrive on the beach and in camps where they can be stuck for long periods.
The island lies just four miles from the Turkish coast and has been taking in boatloads of refugees since 2015.
Lorraine explained: ‘CESRT is the organisation we always deal with now and this year they request donations of blankets if possible and so we are absolutely delighted with the response from Lochaber.’