The Church in Westbury Park has launched an urgent Autumn and Winter Aid Appeal for Syria, Lebanon and Iraq.

Nearly 28.5 million people need humanitarian assistance and the church is seeking the support of the local community to help.

As part of Samara’s Aid Appeal, the church is requesting donations of items which will be sent to those in most urgent need in refugee camps in Syria and Iraq.

These are people who have been through horrific ordeals with many having had family members who have been killed, raped or injured.

Consequently there is a huge amount of psychological and physical trauma and depression among them.

The church is also requesting financial donations which will cover the cost of shipping the items to the Middle East as it costs around £6,500 for each lorry.

Volunteers are also needed to help pack the donations.

The Church is collecting ‘Smiley bags’ for children, ‘Care packs’ for mothers and babies and ‘Dignity bags’ for women and girls.

Items needed for Smiley bags, Care packs and Dignity bags:

• Coats and snow wear, new and used (adult, baby and child)
• Clothes for all seasons (no shorts or short skirts), new and used (adult, baby and child)
• Shoes (polished), all seasons in excellent condition
• NEW underwear (not used), with tags or in packaging
• Blankets, sleeping bags, sheets and towels in immaculate condition
• Boots and Wellies, clean (adult and child)
• Duvets, new or like new with no marks or stains
• Disposable nappies, sanitary towels and incontinence pads
• Moses baskets and baby bedding
• Wheelchairs, Zimmer frames and paired crutches

Keen knitters are also needed to make the following items:

• Baby clothes including hats, bonnets, mittens, cardigans and socks
• Children’s clothes including cardigans, jumpers, scarves, mittens, socks and hats
• Adult clothes including scarves, hats, cardigans, jumpers, socks and shawls
• Blankets for adults, new mothers and the elderly

The church asks that all items donated are in good enough condition to be given as a gift.

All clothes, bedding and blankets must be washed and shoes should be cleaned and polished before donating. Everything should be in excellent condition with buttons, working zips and poppers intact with no holes or stains.

If you would like to join up with family or friends to fill a small rucksack or banana box with specific items to make up one of the care bags, all the details are available from The Church in Westbury Park or the Samara’s Aid website.

The church also has rucksack available to buy for £1 each.

If you would like to donate items towards the Church of Westbury Park’s Syria & Iraq Crisis Appeal, please bring them along to the church from Monday 4th – Friday 29th September.

You can find the Church in Westbury Park on 4 North View, Westbury Park, BS6 7QB.

The church is open from Monday – Friday until 5pm but if you need to bring items in at the weekend or in the evening, please contact the church office to arrange:

Email office@westburyparkchurch.org or phone 0117 973 1562.