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

This morning I received an email from Carolina Gonzalez, an Algerian Action supporter who lives in Tenerife. Carolina is an avid crafter and among her many  skills she is a talented doll maker, in fact she has been making and customising dolls for over a decade!

Anyway, to celebrate the launch of her new website she has very kindly decided to auction one of her creations and donate 50% of the winning bid  to us.

The doll, called Salvia (Sage) is  one of a kind, full details of the doll’s origins and the reconstruction process that took place can be found on the website here    as can details on how to bid. The auction will close on Friday 16th March.

There isn’t any minimum bid and every penny towards our work is a huge help. To give you an idea just £1.25 provides fruit and vegetables to a family for a week through our Fruit tree programme  and £5 will pay for a basic food pack.

If you like the doll and are able to bid please do so otherwise help us by spreading the word among your family and friends.

Irrespective of any money raised it is a wonderfully thoughtful gesture-Thank you Carolina!

Donations

Is it that that the weather has become colder and more people are staying at home crafting and clearing out I don’t know but, the past few weeks have seen so many items being donated to those in need- which is just fabulous! We usually send one shipment of donations per month but now with winter fast approaching that will increase as hats, gloves and warm blankets will need to be sent too.

This is just a small selection of donations that have been received but, huge thanks and appreciated are owed to all who have sent things in. Thank you all for your support!

A mountain of toys

The crafters at ‘loving hands’ must have been crafting like crazy recently if the eight massive boxes of donations that we received this week are anything to go by.  As usual everything is just  fantastic! Beautiful baby clothes, things for toddlers and older children, blankets and lots and lots of toys- toys of every shape, colour and design imaginable .

 

Once again,  thank you so much for such wonderful donations!

Toys from ‘Loving Hands’

 

Loving Hands is a craft group that makes wonderful items for different charities throughout the world, for a while now Algerian Action has been the lucky recipient of many beautiful and much needed items from them.  In addition to their general crafting they have different ‘challenges’ which run throughout the year where they have targets to make particular things. Recently I was asked by Lou,the groups founder if there was anything specific that we required.  Well, everything is needed but after a bit of thought I suggested that the group could make toys.  On my very first visit to Algeria one of the things that stood out for me the most were the lack of toys.  Hardly any children seemed to have toys, not just those from poor families but those from average families who had enough clothes, food etc. It is quite normal for children to play outside and the children amuse themselves with make believe games and team sports like football. But what about children who can’t or don’t play outside with their neighbours, those in hospital for example or those who are just too young to go out? With that in mind I thought it would be a nice idea to create some ‘toy boxes’ which could be donated to a few different places including an orphanage and a children’s ward.

A few weeks after making the suggestion a box full of toys arrived from loving hands, of course everything is beautiful and so carefully made.            

Once again, huge thanks are owed to the generous members at loving hands.

The ‘toy box’ collection continues so if you feel inspired by the pictures above and fancy making a toy or donating a pre-loved one it would be much appreciated. All types of things including craft materials, pencils etc are welcome.

 To read more about the work of loving hands take a look at their website -http://www.lovinghands.org.uk

September

So far some beautiful things have been donated this month.

Three smiling teddies from an anonymous donor.

A pack of baby gro’s and vests which are perfect for our baby sets were sent in by Kath in Staffordshire.

 

2 snugly baby blankets, cute vests,a hat and a colourful jumper were sent by Janet in America.

Nancy in the USA sent four pairs of gorgeous bootees.

Some fabulous pre-loved boys clothing, soft toys, sandals and some great knitted squares were sent by Joan, another lady living in the USA.

Some fantastic art and craft materials were sent by another anonymous donor. These things are so great and quite hard to come by for poor families in Algeria.

Four pretty striped jumpers from another generous donor who prefers to stay anon.

Thank you so much for taking the trouble to craft and send so many lovely things, as always every ones help is greatly appreciated.

Loving hands

Two great big boxes full of donations were delivered yesterday-they came from the lovely ladies at Loving hands.

Like everything that they have sent before each and every item has been beautifully made. The parcels included hats, blankets,bootees, toys,dresses,cardigans, lots and lots of jumpers to fit older children which is just fantastic and a huge mountain of sanitary towel sets which I know will be appreciated so much.

The pictures speak for themselves……….   

Wonderful stuff!

Thank you so much for supporting the project with such dedication.

Lots more to look at

Lots more beautiful woolies, some lovely clothing for babies and children bought in the Tesco sale and some small packs of pencils and Plasticine which are just wonderful! Thank you to everyone. 

More to follow…………………………

A great mix of things

A lovely red blanket, colourful jumpers and two cute dolls were sent in by our very regular donor Sue in Northampton.   

 

Gorgeous hats, blankets jumpers and cardigans came from Jacqui in Swindon.  My favourite is the bright orange one with contrasting green stitching.

Thank you ladies, your contributions are great!

teddies and more

More fantastic donations have arrived!

The ’Nit and Natter ladies’ at Leander Court sent loads of lovely teddies, perfect purple hats and some beautiful cardigans and jumpers.

Four gorgeous crochet blankets were sent in by Jan in Guildford- Such great colours!

And another lady sent in a holdall with lots of different things inside, she had knitted hats,bootees, toys and a cardigan, she had made some packs of sanitary pads but she also included underwear, a shawl, a scarf, a bracelet making toy, a blanket and a few other things- what a thoughtful donation!

    

So, huge thanks are owed to you very generous ladies- your help is appreciated so much!