It’s been a while…

It seems such a long time since I posted here, well actually it IS a long time since I posted here!

Lots has been happening to me personally, my family and I are planning a big move in the summer so really, every spare moment has been spent preparing for that. Along with a million other things that just seem to keep coming along……

`Anyway, despite my lack of reporting here, our lovely supporters have been as generous as ever- so many fabulous things have been arriving and the volunteers in Algiers have been working hard at distributing to those in need.

You may remember earlier in the year that we were fundraising for a wheelchair and thanks to your generosity two girls actually got chairs- here is one of them below with her new wheels. The girls and their families were over joyed!

Plans are moving steadily forward for getting the library up and running- the books are being shipped and other equipment is being bought- Exciting times! If you live in Algiers and would like to help with this project please do get in touch.

Details of our Ramadan / Eid gift appeal are just being finalised and once known I’ll let you all know.

Thank you so much for all your help and support.

Have a great weekend!

Emma x

Just a week to go!

As  mentioned before,  Algerian Action will be participating in this year’s International Book Giving Day. For full details of the event take a look at their website where they have loads of info and a few snazzy book plates which are free to download.

We  will be joining in and spreading our love of books by distributing Book packs to children in El Katter Hospital (Algiers). Each pack includes a reading book, a colouring book, stickers and crayons.

To raise funds for our Travelling Library project we will also, FOR ONE DAY ONLY, be selling some unique, one of a kind bookmarks made from vintage books.

Lastly, we will be encouraging our supporters to donate books to our Travelling library. At the start of the year we had a target of 1000 books and after just a few short weeks we have almost reached it. We have just 124 more to collect- wouldn’t it be great if we could do that on International Book giving day. All books that are new or gently used are very welcome, we even have an Amazon wish list to make things easy!

Thank you so much for your support-hope to see you here in a weeks time!

January round up

January was a been a super busy month!

Our book appeal has really taken off and in just one month we have managed to collect almost 700 books of superb quality. We have a target of 1,000 which we need to reach before the summer when the library is due to open so, there is still a little way to go .

Below are just some of the books received in the last week or so.

Fab clothing has also been donated this month, including some lovely things for our baby pack project. The warmer weather will soon be here in Algeria so we are now starting to collect t.shirts, shorts ect so that it can all be shipped over in good time.

As I mentioned in a previous post, this year we will be assisting a women’s refuge. So far we have already given some toiletries, underwear and other essentials. The refuge  has a number of children there and a small play area has been created. We plan to develop this further and supply the organisation with a number of things for the children that live  there. These donated toys will help us make  a start.

  We have recently started working with a school in Baraki, Algiers and it is through them that we heard about the disabled teenager that had stopped going to school because her father was unable to continue carrying her in. Thanks to your generosity in just a few days we were able to raise enough to buy her a wheelchair.

During the fundraising campaign we were contacted by someone who wished to pay the whole amount, at that time the total had almost be raised so, it was suggested that this person could instead pay for a wheelchair for another, younger disabled  girl who attended the school. The supporter happily agreed, so January also saw two disabled girls become more mobile (pictures to follow). It seems that there are several children in need of this type of assistance and we are now looking into the best way we can try and help.

As always huge thanks for your tremendous support!

Have a fantastic February!

Emma x 

Off to a great start!

Some fabulous things for our baby pack project were donated this past week, including lots of cute little vests and crocheted goodies.

In addition to other beautiful items these baby-gros were donated by http://www.daisydumplings.co.uk   Isn’t it  just such a fabulous idea to add a little ruffle collar and flower to a plain sleep suit to jazz it up! I’m not that great at crochet but if anyone who is fancies making a few flowers, I do have some baby gros that they could be added to

Plans for our travelling library are ‘full steam ahead’. Thank you so much to those who sent books in for our appeal and crafty stuff for the kids to use during the library craft sessions.

Our goal is to collect 1,000 books to start the library off- the donation of every book makes a difference, will help  fill the shelves and get us a little closer to our target!

As I mentioned previously, this year we hope to be able to assist a women’s refuge based in Algiers. We had a meeting with the director last week to find out a bit more about what their organisation does and to discuss ways in which we can help them. The women who live in this refuge have either been abandoned by their husbands or families, are  escapees from an abusive relationship or young women who have reached the age of 18 and so no longer have the right to stay in the orphanage where they previously lived. The aim of the refuge is to give these women somewhere clean and safe to stay but to also help them find a way to build a future for themselves. For example they help women find employment or training so that they can afford to live independently. At the time of our visit there were 12 women residents and 7 children although there is capacity for more.

The organisation does receive some state funding but it is not nearly enough and on one occasion last year the refuge ran out of food! It operates a bit like a normal home: the women and children share the cooking and eat together as a family. There are no cleaning staff ect the residents do all of this type of thing between themselves. As one would expect from people that have nothing materially, they are in need of everything especially the everyday items like soap, toothpaste, sanitary towels, clothing ect.

Some of the women housed also have their children with them and an area has been designated for them to play in. I can’t imagine how it must feel to be a child in this situation but I think it would be a nice gift if we could donate a toy box full of things to play with and some colourful cushions to brighten up the place a bit and make it a little more child friendly.

I will be visiting the refuge myself at the beginning of March and would love to take some things  at that time to the women and children who live there. I’m thinking along the lines of underwear, toiletries, towels and bedding plus some toys as mentioned above. Any help with that would be really gratefully appreciated.

Have a great weekend!

A year in review

If everyone in the UK donated just £1 each over £62 million would be raised. Imagine how may water wells that could build in Ethiopia, how many people it could feed in Liberia, how many cataract operations it would fund in India or indeed how many blankets it could provide to the many thousands of homeless people living on the streets of the UK itself ………

Okay, I know that is not going to happen but, my point is that collectively even the smallest  individual gestures made by a group of people can make a big difference to people in need. That if everyone pulls together things can happen and do happen.

Do you remember Abdel Kader? we bought him a wheelchair back in March. Through your donations of glasses we were also able to help 123 people with their sight problems.

Do you remember Abdullah Salim? In October we were able to contribute to his medical fees. We also bought medicine for over 200 people who were unable to pay the costs themselves.

 

Through our baby pack project we have been able to  provide hundreds of mothers with clothing for their newborns.

Plus items donated to our Eid Appeal enabled us to give gifts, sweets and new clothes to 762 children in the summer.

We have been able to provide food  to children and families in need and distribute thousands of items of clothing.

 

All of these people have been assisted by money raised through our fundraising efforts: Our spring fair, attending events, individual donations and the sale of our cookery book. They have been helped because the general public have been supportive and donated a huge amount of clothing, toiletries, toys and other essentials and of course not forgetting all those that generously donate their time.

Collectively we have made a difference: through our gestures we have made the lives of some of those experiencing the effects of poverty a little bit easier. So thank you, thank you all for your enormous generosity and for caring enough to want to help .

There is still a long way to go and so much more that can be done. So, I really hope I can count on your continued support throughout 2013!

Some exciting things are planned but, more on that in my next post.

 

 

Eid Appeal 2012

Our Eid Appeal for 2012 is now well under-way, in fact there are just two more weeks left to collect donations!

People have been so generous sending things in, simple treats like balloons, sweets and small toys- all the things that children love in addition to some new clothing.

This year our aim is to give gift parcels to 750 children. So far, we have 510 -which is more than we gave out last year or the year before that but, we still need 240 more to reach our target – Can you help?

Auction #29 Baby hat

Auction #29

This is such a cute little hat!

Hand knitted in a soft lightweight blue,grey and black yarn and suitable for a newborn.

To place a bid simply add your amount in the comments box below.

Starting bid is just £1

Auction #27 Baby cardigan

Auction #27

This a beautifully hand-knitted baby girl’s cardigan.

Knitted in pale blue Acrylic yarn it is machine washable.

Suitable for a baby aged 3-6months.

To place a bid simply add your amount in the comments box below.

Starting bid is £2

Auction #23 Bobble Hat

Auction #23

This is a gorgeous little hat perfect for the chills of winter.

Beautifully hand knitted in cream and deep red yarn and topped off with a chunky bobble  in the same colours.

Machine washable and suitable for a child aged 3-4 years

To place a bid simply add your amount in the box below.

Starting bid is £1.50

Auction #22 Floral Bracelet

Auction #22

This is a very pretty bracelet in delicate shades of pink,mint and white.

The beads have been made from a variety of materials including resin, glass, clay and crystal and the chain is silver plate.

The bracelet measures 6.5″ in length and has an extension chain of a further 2″.

To place a bid simply add your amount in the comments box below.

Bidding starts at £2