Fame at Last!

A full version of the following article appears in the October issue of Breeze Magazine

http://www.breeze-magazine.co.uk/magazines/2019/October.pdf

New Beeston Collection Point needed for Refugee Charity 

We at Derbyshire Refugee Solidarity already miss The White Lion – and especially Sergio -very much. Not only was it a great community venue, hosting all kinds of events, dance classes, film nights, poetry and storytelling evenings, for us, The White Lion was vital. 

The wonderfully generous people of Beeston, home of the UK’s most successful Oxjam two years running, have been using The White Lion as a place to drop off donations and hold fund-raising events. Sergio has worked closely with one of our volunteers, Julie, who lives in Beeston, to keep a regular supply of donations coming to fill our “Sorting Bins”. These are then sorted for different destinations; Calais, Dunkirk, Paris, Syria and Greece. Nothing is wasted: anything not suitable for refugee camps is sold on ebay or at car boot fairs and jumble sales or sent to weigh in . We don’t really turn anything away. If we can’t use it or sell it, we pass it on to other charities.

We would be so grateful if someone could help us maintain this link between DRS and Beeston! Sergio kept the donations in the cellar at The White Lion and people could drop off during pub opening times. Ideally, we need somewhere where people can make drop offs at specific times but another option would be if someone has a spare garage/shed space, Julie could be there once or twice a week to open up and accept donations.

If anyone can help us, or would like to know more about our work, please contact us!