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Maya’s Community CIC team are urgently raising funds to transport aid to the earthquake zone on the Turkey Syrian border. Many families devastated by the earthquake had previously fled their homes in Syria only to find themselves again struck by further disaster, losing loved ones, their homes and all their treasured processions. Sufficient aid is just not reaching this area quick enough. Families are living in squalid conditions in overcrowded tents, with very poor sanitation and have very little hope left.
Maya’s Community CIC has been generously donated 80 commercial Porta Loo ‘s which are desperately needed in the small tented camps. So this is where you come in….. We urgently need to raise the money for 4 lorries to transport the Porta Loos and other much needed items.
Having returned from Hatey yesterday (23rd March) we have seen first hand how desperate the situation is and how for some families hope is fading fast. We sat listening to the sad stories of loss, agony, misery, fear and sorrow. They spoke of watching their children breathe their last breaths, of digging with bare hands to save loved ones, of sleeping with the dead bodies of relatives trapped in the rubble to stop animals eating their corpses.We owe these people a basic humanity to try and do everything we can to help in any way we can.
May’s CIC has proved it can deliver. Our first lorry full of aid arrived on Tuesday 22nd and much was distributed immediately directly to those in need. As a small not for profit organisation staffed entirely by volunteers, our overheads are extremely low. We can move swiftly to get small scale aid to where it is most needed but we need your help.
100% of your donations will go transporting portable toilets together with other essential items to southern Turkey. Please, please help by donating as much as you can urgently to improve the lives of these lovely people.
Ukrainian Refugee Support Hub
Ever since the start of the Ukrainian conflict Maya opened her doors to the Ukrainian community. Through her community links she was able to quickly set up a support network for families arriving and those willing to host / sponsor their visas. In partnership with the local authority Maya has helped hundreds of Ukrainian families to settle and integrate into society.
This help also extends to the host families where she can not only help with communication but also any problems that arise when relationships break down. This has led to her being on call 24 hours a day at times, supporting refugees with mental health problems get the right medical assistance.
Helping the families apply for school places , benefits , jobs etc. Her community support centre hosts a weekly support group whereby local councillors , the MP, representatives from the DWP and city council officials regularly attend the meetings.
Food bank
The food bank operated from the community support centre (20 High Street, Herne Bay)
The food bank is stocked with food items donated from local businesses, waste food from a number of local supermarkets and topped up with items purchased from Maya’s Community Interest Company (which is funded by donations and grants). Â
Maya's Free Shop (31 High Street) opens!
Also Maya's Community CIC is formally registered as a Community Interest Company with Companies House.
Christmas dinner ingredients were distributed for free feeding around 2,000 people in one day, from the community support centre in Herne Bay.
Father Christmas visited the Community Support Centre and distributed 1000s of wrapped presents for free.
New Years Eve Party at the Community Cafe
Free Hair dressing at the free shop in parternship with Mirage Hair and Beauty Salon commenced with the first cut.
Turkey Earthquake appeal begins with donations being accepted at Community Cafe. Over the course of the next few months 5 Articulated Lorries of Aid were sent to the Earthquake Zone.
Free Shop
Maya started collecting donated clothes items at her community support centre to assist the families settling from the Ukraine. This has spread to an entire shop of clothes, toys, bedding, blankets, beds, tents and bric a brac all donated and available for free. The free shop helps 100s of people everyday and has become very popular with people travelling from all over Kent just to see what she has created.
The concept of a free shop is unique and popular , especially given the cost of living crisis. It reduces waste and brings the community together to support one another. It has captured the attention of national news outlets who have run several stories on the shop. Kent County Council social services regularly refer families who have escaped domestic violence to the free shop where they can be kitted out with everything they need to start again. All for free.
Volunteers
