When the news broke across the globe on Monday 23rd of July regarding the wildfires that tore through coastal areas in Athens and the small resort town of Mati leaving many dead and hundreds injured as tourists and residents resided to the sea in the hope of safety. The Cypriot, Greek, and wider communities in London, Great Britain set up donation drop off collection points taking immediate effect, with a plan to raise funds via the Greek Orthodox Churches in Sunday's service and other relief funds to help rapid response disaster aid workers such as the Hellenic Red Cross in Greece.
Appeal Closed With Thanks: 9th August 2018
Appeal Updated: 1st August 2018
Appeal Dated: 28th July 2018
Thank you to our reporters on behalf of The Greek Cypriot Women's Organisation; Katerina from ITV news, Sue and Georgia from 'Baking with George & Georgia' - three generations of the Christodoulou family. Hitchin Lavender for their great hospitality and my colleague Anthony Anthimou of DinoGoGo Media for shooting and editing.
The stunning location of Lavender Hitchen was our appeal location because in Greek mythology, lavender represents solitude, we want the victims of the fire to know they are not alone, whereas sunflowers represent hope and longevity which we hope our aid creates for the survivors in rebuilding their lives.
To read more about the fires in Greece, please click on my previous blog entry titled #PrayForGreece
Collections for Aid;
Please note all sites are now closed. Thank you all for your kind donations.
Greek Cypriot Women's Organisation
Collection hours 10am - 2pm on Friday 27th July, Monday 30th July, Wednesday 1st August & Friday 3rd August 2018.
Greek Cypriot Women's Organisation (corner of Wightman Road) Denmark Road, Haringey, London N8 0DZ
Please note, the centre are not accepting any monetary donations. Items needed; towels, blankets, clothing; men, women and children of all ages / sizes (warmer clothing because in a few months time it will be winter, summer clothing, children's vests), new underwear, socks, shoes, antiseptic wipes / cream, over the counter pain killers such as Calpol® and paracetamol, sanitary items, nappies, baby formula, plasters / bandages, toiletries and toys, tinned / long-life foods such as tuna, soups, luncheon meat, tinned tomatoes, tomato purée, powdered milk, cooking oil / olive oil, marmalades, honey, instant coffee / greek coffee, black bags, sponges, washing powders, household cleaning products, insect repellent, batteries, torches and reading glasses.
The Vice Chair Soulla Kyprianou would like to thank everyone who has donated and offered help so far.
The centre's main email address is: greekcypriotwomensorg@gmail.com dedicated email address: gcwo.greekaid@gmail.com Telephone number: 020 8341 6658. Charity No: 1097830
The Winchmore Pub,
Collection hours 11am - 11pm on Sunday 29th - Tuesday 24th July 2018
The Winchmore, Winchmore Hill Road, (Southgate), London N21 1QA
Donations are to be left in the function room upstairs please. Arranged by Eleni Georgiou of Asterakia. Any remaining boxes after the first shipment will be delivered to the GCWO centre for storage and batches of boxes will continue to be shipped weekly until all gone.
Thank you to our sponsors; The Big Yellow Self Storage Company for providing boxes and delivering them to the GCWO centre, Christos Metafores International Transportation, Nikos Transportation and Mondial Forwarding for the transportation and shipment of the boxed donations to Athens, Greece. Rogers Removals based in North London for their help with collecting the items from The Winchmore pub and delivering them to Greek Cypriot Women's Organisation. Thanks to the owners Eimear & Mark Walsh of The Winchmore and all staff for being so accommodating and allowing us to use your function room for free to store the items, SpecSavers Muswell Hill for donating reading glasses and to London Greek Radio and Greekbeat Radio for mentioning the appeals on air. The items will be sent to ReGeneration in Greece for them to distribute to the areas affected.
We as ReGeneration, ensure to deliver, in person, each and every item kindly donated that we receive to Kineta, Rafina and Nea Makri according to the needs stated by Mayors and their Deputies, Presidents of the Resident's Associations etc. We are currently having a daily update on the needs that arise, so as to collect the right items required in the area that needs them most. We are doing everything humanly possible to make sure that all items delivered will satisfy actual needs based on the plans of local authorities and communities. - Konstatantions Kintzios, Business Development Director of ReGeneration.
In collaboration the Greeks working at Imperial Hospital have created two collection points in Central London for you to drop off donated items such as;
clothing; underwear, socks (for adults & children), footwear, toys, toiletries, sanitary pads, nappies, toothbrushes and paste, canned food & anything not flammable in transit that you can think of that's needed urgently.
Collection hours 9am - 4pm from Monday 23rd - Friday 27th July 2018 only, at the two locations;
UPDATE: PLEASE NOTE COLLECTION POINTS CLOSED WEDNESDAY 25TH JULY (EARLIER THAN ADVERTISED) AS THEY ARE AT CAPACITY;
St Mary’s Hospital - Praed St, Paddington, London W2 1NY - Maternity Ultrasound Reception, Cambridge Wing.
Queen Charlotte Hospital, Du Cane Rd, White City, London W12 0HS - Maternity Ultrasound Reception.
Please Note: do not arrive before or after collection hours because they will not be accepted. Collection will be closed by the weekend! For further information, email lead contact Sofia Katrantzi, Obstetric Sonographer at Imperial Hospital via: sofia.katrantzi@nhs.net
In an open letter dated 24th July 2018, the Archbishop Gregorios Theocharous of Thyateira and Great Britain called upon the Greek Orthodox community living in the UK to donate generously to the fundraiser so collectively we can gather a sufficient amount of money that can then be sent to Greece to provide some relief to the victims during this devastating time. Collections will take place on Sunday 29th July 2018 at your local churches where a special collection tray will be passed around and each Community’s Church Committee will then gather the donations promptly and send a cheque to that amount, written out to ‘Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of Thyateira & GB’, to the Offices of the Archdiocese. To read the letter in full, click here. For those who cannot attend but still wish to donate, please do so via a bank transfer using these details;
Name: Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of Thyateira and Great Britain
Bank: National Bank of Greece
Account No. : 391174-01
IBAN: GB34 ETHN 4062 0439 1174 01
Reference: FIRE18
It's our annual community day at St Panteleimon Greek Orthodox Church in Kenton Road, Harrow on Sunday 29th July serving kebabs, greek desserts and more. Read Father Anastasios Salapatas' blogspot for more info and updates.
The Hellenic Bankers Association in memory of all those lost and in support of those injured or without shelter, have set up an official bank account of the Greek branch of The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies in order to fund raise and accept donations from the general public. If you wish to donate please do so via this account;
Name: Hellenic Red Cross
Reference: Attica fire relief
IBAN: GR6402602400000310201181388
SWIFT: ERBKGRAA
Bank: Eurobank Ergasias AE
Bank Address: 7 Korai St & 37 Panepistimiou Street, Athens 10564
If you have any questions, please contact: hba@hellenicbankers.org.uk.
The account below is by the Ministry of Finance for the wildfires victims of the July 2018 fires in Athens;
Account Name: Eidikos Logariasmos Pyroplikton ths 23hs kai 24hs Iouliou 2018 Beneficiary Name: Ministry of Finance Bank: Bank of Greece
IBAN GR4601000230000002341195169 BIC: BNGRGRAA Account number: 23/2341195169 For more information, please visit: www.aftodioikisi.gr
Municipality of Rafina-Pikermi has created a special bank account in cooperation with Piraeus Bank for those who wish to contribute financially to the effort to relieve and strengthen citizens affected by the wildfires in Greece.
Account Name: Municipality of Rafina-Pikermi
Bank: Piraeus Bank Account Number: 5186092291418 ΙΒΑΝ: GR20 0172 1860 0051 8609 2291 418
ΒΙC/SWIFT: PIRBGRAA
For more information, please visit: www.rafina-pikermi.gr
The Municipality of Marathon's international relief fund accommodating the fire victims and providing psychological support to those affected.
Account Name: Municipality of Marathon
Bank: Piraeus Bank
Bank Account: 5120092305477
IBAN: GR49 0172 1200 0051 2009 2305 477
ΒΙC/SWIFT: PIRBGRAA
For more information, please visit: www.marathon.gr
#PrayForGreece #AidForGreece #TogetherWeCan #Greece #Athens #Mati #Fire #Fire2018 #GreeceFires #GreekCommunity #StPanteleimon #GreekOrthodoxChurch #GreekOrthodox