Page 19 - LUDLOW TOWER NOV 21 (WEBSITE)

Operation Warm Welcome
We were all appalled in the summer by
images of terrified people struggling to
get through the gates of Kabul airport
and onto flights out of Afghanistan to
escape the Taliban. Many of you
responded to the plight of the Afghan
refugees arriving virtually empty-handed
in the UK and did what you could to
provide them with the warm welcome
promised by the government. Local
agencies and individuals working to
support the new arrivals were soon
overwhelmed by your generous
donations, forcing them to halt the flow.
One such
volunteer is
Nicola North,
pictured here by
a shed
overflowing with
bags of
donations yet to
be sorted.
Nicola has been
involved in
supporting
refugees here and abroad since 2015. In
the past she has worked in Calais and
the Greek islands as well as helping
Syrians who were settled in Shropshire
and the Wirral.
Nicola reports that only a few of the
recent Afghan refugees have come to
Shropshire and none to Ludlow. She
attributes this to the lack here of either
suitable housing or a Job Centre. The
situation this time is different from past
cases, such as Syrians coming from
camps in Libya. The crisis developed
quickly and unexpectedly and the public
19
responded instantly. The plight of the
Afghans has been keenly felt in this
country, partly no doubt because of the
link with the British Army – these
people helped ‘our boys’ when they
were living and working under difficult
circumstances thousands of miles from
home. The result was a tsunami of
donations peaking over a Bank Holiday
weekend and storage facilities were
overwhelmed.
Nicola advised those of us feeling
powerless to help to hold on to our
donations. She suggested items which
would be especially welcome, reminding
us that styles in Afghanistan are very
different from the UK, that there is no
culture of ‘charity shops’ or second-hand
clothes and that it is important to allow
people the dignity to make choices and
to dress in a way that gives them self-
confidence and hope.
For women: warm, long-sleeved,
conservative dark-coloured clothing;
long dark skirts and dresses; new tights,
socks, comfortable flat or small-heeled
court shoes; cosmetics (suitable for a
darker skin tone), sanitary products (not
Tampax or Dr Whites) deodorant, (dark)
hair dye, nail clippers/scissors
For men: more traditional Muslim
dress in medium and small sizes; shoes
(size 42-44); jackets, suits, blazers; shirts,
fleeces, jeans chinos; belts.
For children: clothing for ages 8 up,
especially boys trousers; football tops;
avoid clothing with slogans especially if
they are cheeky or ‘cute’.
To contact Nicola call 01584 878528 or
email nicjnorth@aol.com.