URGENT APPEAL FOR A SPACE TO RENT IN BRISTOL for the local charity Aid Box Community
February 18th, 2022
A local grassroots charity has issued an urgent appeal for warehouse space to support a ‘huge increase’ in the demand for the service and donations following a rise in the number of refugees and asylum seekers arriving in the city.
The charity says around 600 refugees and people seeking asylum have been placed in hotels across the city in the past four months, many with only the clothes they are wearing.
Aid Box Community has a hub and free shop with some storage on Cheltenham Road but says that the level of donations and rise in demand means they need more storage space.
Imogen McIntosh, local resident and director of ABC, said: “We have started having to turn people away and this is heart-breaking and not due to lack of donations or volunteers”
“It’s due to lack of space to store and sort donations. I had to turn a family from Afghanistan away when they arrived with their two-year-old twins. They needed a pushchair and shoes for the children. We didn’t have them in stock because we don’t have the space.
“We are now looking for a dry, warm space to rent approx. 40 Square Foot. For our amazing volunteers to sort, pack and then go on to deliver essential items through the Click and Delivery service we started during lockdown.”
During the Covid lockdown ABC ran a Click and Delivery service to ensure essential living items to asylum seekers and refugees across the city.
But the re-opening of the free shop for appointments meant a reduction in space at the same time as the arrival of circa 600 additional displaced people from Afghanistan, Iran, Sudan, and other countries.
Many are placed in hotels while their claims are being processed and they are all in need of clothes, pushchairs, and toiletries.
Imogen said: “With more space we could collect more donations and assist many more people, while recycling even more of Bristol’s second-hand items.”
If you are able to help, please contact imogen@aidboxcommunity.co.uk
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