You haven't heard from us for a while but we have been busy and just wanted to take the chance to update you on our efforts and plans. In December we were involved in two events in Cardiff speaking about the refugee crisis in Lesvos and our work there: the wonderful Only Menopause Aloud community choir christmas concert raised £650 with tombola, raffle and sale of their cd,s - thank you Bethan, Chris, Sarah and all of those involved for your incredible generosity and hard work. Then Pauline Down for her Christmas sing in solidarity of Syrian Refugees in Lesvos held at the Friends Meeting House - again a moving evening and £280 raised from the singers - thank you so much!! Also a big thank you to Whipsnade for their incredible donation of £1500 as well as all the individuals who have given so generousy in donations of money and clothing. So what are we doing with the donations.

*We are about to send off another batch of much needed warm winter clothing to Starfish Foundation in Molyvos.

*We are supporting volunteers who are going out in the next two months with small sums of money to pay for supplies and transport for refugees on the island.

*We will be buying and sending out essential supplies such as emergency blankets and medicines, with volunteers who are flying out as this is cheaper than sending parcels by post.

*Ariana will be going out for two weeks at the end of March with her husband Jeff who has disaster management expertise as well as first person on scene training. We will take donated money with us to buy supplies of clothing, food shelter and medical equipment on the island.

Julie is also planning another trip possibly in february half term.

The media coverage over the last week alone shows how desperate the situation still is and will continue to be for the forseable future so our heartfelt thanks to everyone who has contributed in anyway to this appeal this year! Together we can make a difference.