This month we would like to bring you some really good news! News about a major and very exciting partnership, however before we do, here is a general update. 

Since the start of the year as most of you will know by now, we have been battling to resolve the customs and VAT issues surrounding moving humanitarian aid to Europe.  Charles has had numerous calls and virtual meetings in Greece and the UK with everyone from MP's to HMRC officials, to other NGO's who are desparate to resolve the issue. 

As we have reported before, significant progress has been made, but we have still not been given cast iron assurances that any aid we send will not be subject to these charges.  

Charles is working alongside many other organisations on this, notably Angus Clark from Herts for Refugees and we would like to thank Angus and everyone else that has fed into these discussions and negotiations so far. We will of course keep you updated with any progress, however in the meantime the Greek governments priority is to move refugees to the mainland, more than are arriving on the islands, but financial support for those that are moved is limited and is resulting in a different and more dissipated problem, it becomes another challenge to overcome! 'Closed camps' are being built on the islands and it looks like Samos in particular may be used to house those remaining on the islands.

The closed camps will mean lower visibility and access to refugees. With the continued polarisation of the refugee issue across Europe including the UK, where the new 'Nationality and Borders Bill' unveiled by the government on Tuesday effectively criminalises being a refugee, it is time for us to raise the awareness of this major issue once again and we are very proud that we are able to do this through the 'Walk with Amal' project. 

Walk with Amal

Hope and Aid Direct are proud to be a Humanitarian Partner and the Official Transport Partner for The Walk, where Little Amal, a young refugee, embarks on a remarkable journey – an epic voyage that will take her across Turkey, and Europe: to find her mother, to get back to school, to start a new life! Will the world let her? Can she achieve what now seems more impossible than ever? 

From now until November, from the Syria-Turkey border all the way to the UK, The Walk will bring together celebrated artists, major cultural institutions, community groups and humanitarian organisations to create one of the most innovative and adventurous public artworks ever attempted.

Hope and Aid Direct will be providing transportation solutions for the project, meaning a 7.5 tonne truck, a Luton van and 2 minibuses plus drivers to take the project team all the way from Greece to Manchester.  Using our many years of knowledge and experience driving across Europe dealing with refugee and humanitarian issues we will be providing support to the great team working on 'The Walk' with this vital area of transport and logistics.  

We are thrilled to support #LittleAmal on her awareness-raising 8000km journey from the Turkey-Syria border to Manchester in support of refugees.

Find out more about her and the project here walkwithamal.org.

We of course would like to take this opportunity to thank our drivers, volunteers and supporters for embracing this amazing project. 

At the heart of The Walk is ‘Little Amal’, a 3.5 metre-tall puppet of a young refugee girl, created by the acclaimed Handspring Puppet Company. Representing all displaced children, many separated from their families, Little Amal will travel over 8,000km embodying the urgent message “Don’t forget about us”.

A full schedule of the events taking place across Europe can be found on The Walk Website and it would be great if you could join us on the way. 

There will be lots of pictures and stories to share as the journey gets underway and we will share these on our website. 

Already Little Amal is starting to get lots of attention.  

As we find stories and news surrounding her we will update it on the Walk with Amal News page of the Hope and Aid Direct website. 

This project is of course very different to the day to day work carried out by us, however given the ongoing delays affecting moving physical aid to Europe right now, we felt it important that we play an active part in highlighting the plight of refugees.  

Rather than dividing people, art and culture brings people together, something we need now more than ever and we wish Little Amal and the whole team behind her every success with this fantastic and challenging journey which she is just about to undertake.