We're really excited to share our news with you! But first we need to tell you the problem:
In the past SHARE has collected aid and raised money to send that aid across the World to people in need. Whilst this method helps people directly, it has a few serious negative effects.
Firstly, sending large volumes of free aid to a location can seriously damage the local economy in the area around those we are attempting to care for. A good example of this is what happened in Haiti following the Earthquake there. All of the charities who kindly responded, flooded the island with free products to help those in need during the aftermath. Sadly whilst this aid was extremely well meant it actually decimated the local economy.
Since then and with the backing of the U.K. Government, most, if not all major charities in the U.K. have changed the way they help people who are in need abroad. Following the lessons learnt in Haiti, charities such as the Red Cross now turn donated items into cash within the U.K. and then use this money to buy locally sourced aid from local shops on the ground in the area closest to those in need.
This method also means that no money is being wasted on high haulage costs, it also means that truck loads of aid are no longer being driven or shipped around the globe unnecessarily which is ultimately harming our environment.
While we recognise that there is still some need to send items abroad, SHARE have decided to adopt this more efficient and environmentally friendly ethos and turn most donations of clothing etc, made from this point onwards, into cash here in the U.K.
We will then use this money to purchase those much needed items of aid from local businesses and shops in the direct vicinity of those in the refugee camps. We will also be able to fund doctors, dentists, medical supplies, volunteers and other specialist help within the refugee camps.
So as well as saving thousands of pounds on haulage and reducing the damage to our environment, this new model also has a really positive third benefit of drastically improving the relationship between the local communities in and around the areas of the refugee camps themselves!
That’s why we’re transforming the way we raise money and delivering our aid to people who are refugees for the better!
We're opening a brand new SHARE Shop in Mold town centre, which will raise money specifically for families who are refugees and have faced the horrors of war and are in need. Meanwhile our SHARE Shop over in Chester will focus on helping people in this country who are homeless locally!
Stay tuned for more information!
If you’d like to join us at SHARE on our mission here in Mold or in Chester, please email info@shareaid.co.uk, we’d love to have you onboard!