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| Established | 2015; 10 years ago (2015) |
|---|---|
| Type | NGO |
| Legal status | Charity |
| Location | |
| Key people | Lliana Bird Dawn O'Porter |
| Website | helprefugees |
Help Refugees is a UK-based non-governmental organization which provides humanitarian aid to refugees around the world. The organization began life in August 2015 when radio presenter and writer Lliana Bird, TV presenter and writer Dawn O'Porter and artist management assistant Josie Naughton created a social media fundraising campaign called #HelpCalais in aid of the refugee crisis across Europe. Dani Lawrence joined as a co-founder within days of the #HelpCalais campaign launching. It soon became a registered charity under its current name.
Help Refugees has provided aid in countries including France, Greece and Syria.
History
Bird and Naughton offered to help Bird's former acting teacher, Tom Radcliffe, who was aiming to raise £1000 to drive from the UK to the Calais jungle refugee camp in France to donate goods. They met with O'Porter and decided to launch the hashtag #HelpCalais to raise awareness of the crisis and to help raise fund. They used their social media followings and celebrity contacts to spread the word and soon found themselves overwhelmed with the response. They began to receive such a great volume of donations that they sought a larger storage space, which was donated by Big Yellow Group. Lawrence, who runs an import company with her husband, offered to help coordinate getting the donations to Calais. A warehouse was located in Calais to store the donations and distribute them from, and as more volunteers arrived to help, Help Refugees began efforts to build temporary shelters at the camp, serve hot food, distribute goods and provide other services that were not being catered for sufficiently. From here, the organisation grew to offer aid and support in other areas where refugees were arriving into Europe.
Media coverage
The Guardian chose Help Refugees as one of the partner charities for their 2016 Charity Appeal.
A BBC documentary Calais: The Last Days Of The Jungle featured interviews with several Help Refugees staff and volunteers.
Celebrity endorsements
Celebrities who have endorsed, advocated, partnered and performed for Help Refugees and their fundraising events include Jude Law, Tom Odell and Pamela Anderson.
Collaborations
In June 2017, Help Refugees partnered with London's V&A for Help Refugees: Our Shared Future, a series of discussions in their Lecture Theatre to launch the 2017 Refugee Week.
Choose Love
Choose Love is Help Refugees' rallying cry, created by British designer Katherine Hamnett. It includes a fashion merchandise range stocked at UK online retailer ASOS and a series of music event fundraisers which has included club nights hosted by electronic music website Resident Advisor.
In November 2016, they launched a Choose Love pop-up shop in Soho, London and accompanying website, where people could purchase essential items for refugees in the guise of Christmas presents..
References
- "Accidental activists: the British women on the front line of the refugee crisis". The Guardian. Retrieved 2017-09-11.
- "Guardian and Observer 2016 charity appeal raises over £1.75m". The Guardian. Retrieved 2017-09-11.
- "What's on TV tonight". The Times. Retrieved 2017-09-11.
- Jude Law and Tom Odell head to Calais to raise the plight of refugees, Evening Standard. Retrieved 2017-15-12.
- Help Refugees - Providing aid and upholding dignity for refugees, @pamfoundation on Twitter. Retrieved 2017-15-12.
- Help Refugees: Our Shared Future, V&A. Retrieved 2017-26-11.
- What to give the man who has everything this Christmas, The Telegraph. Retrieved 2017-26-11.
- RA to host Help Refugees fundraiser in London with Midland, Simian Mobile Disco, Resident Advisor. Retrieved 2017-26-11.
- Choose Love: the shop where you can spend hundreds and walk away with nothing, The New Statesman. Retrieved 2017-26-11.
External links
Category:Charity in Europe Category:British companies established in 2015 Category:Refugee aid organisations in the United Kingdom
| This article, Help Refugees, has recently been created via the Articles for creation process. Please check to see if the reviewer has accidentally left this template after accepting the draft and take appropriate action as necessary.
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