Features / Bristol Charity Advent Calendar 2022
Bristol Charity Advent Calendar 2022, Day 5: Aid Box Community
Aid Box Community’s (ABC) aims are threefold: to provide support, supplies and sanctuary to refugees and people seeking asylum in Bristol.
The organisation strives to help people arriving in Bristol with nothing through their Free Shop and Welcome Hub – giving them access to free items, a listening ear and a place to feel safe.
ABC also runs several weekly groups, trips and a ‘Connections’ befriending program. These include textiles and sewing, yoga, cooking lessons, visits to a community farm, cycling lessons, nature connection days, creative workshops, swimming lessons and walking and sports activities.
is needed now More than ever
These services help reduce loneliness and isolation and enable the charity to identify the needs of the most vulnerable of those seeking sanctuary in Bristol.
“The ABC family became our second family in the UK; they teach us to never give up and never to lose hope. They are the true light at the end of the tunnel,” said one service user.
ABC provides support, supplies and sanctuary to thousands of forcibly displaced people in Bristol
The charity was set up initially to organise sending aid and support from Bristol over to the Calais Jungle at the height of the 2015 European ‘migrant crisis’.
ABC then evolved into one of the most important charities in the city which seeks to help refugees who come to Bristol, as a City of Sanctuary.
Over the years, ABC has welcomed and supported over 3,400 service users into our community.
During the festive period, the organisation is selling locally sourced Christmas trees in its Refutrees campaign. People can order trees for delivery on ABC’s website and on 222 Gloucester Road every day from 10.30am until 7.00pm.
ABC is also selling online live cook-along classes, teaching people how to cook international foods with refugees in the city and discovering the stories behind them. Classes can be bought here.
All profits will be going to provide vital living essentials, community and friendship for refugees and those seeking asylum in Bristol.
All photos: Aid Box Community
Read next:
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- ‘Bristol is a city of huge disparities’
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