Lauren Anderson Blog
Lauren Anderson is currently undertaking an MSc in Human Rights and International Politics.
Hope For Everyone: How one grassroots charity has made a difference in the Ukrainian refugee crisis
The war in Ukraine has displaced over 14 million people from their homes, with approximately 6.6 million refugees and 8 million internally displaced peoples. The humanitarian response has been large but at times stagnant with government and international organisation responses being delayed due to the usual politics of international relations. This is where Hope4U comes in. Hope4U is a registered non-profit organisation working in the Vall De Pop area, just north of Alicante, Spain. Quickly following the beginning of Russian aggression against Ukraine the charity was set up in aim of creating a safe area for Ukrainians to flee to. The founder of the charity grew up in the Vall De Pop area and had faith in the local population to welcome Ukrainians here and wow they really did! Within days of setting up the project, all starting through a Facebook group, there were hundreds of applications for housing and volunteers all wanting to do their part.
This was when I decided to fly over to Spain and contribute. I was finishing up the final few weeks of my Masters classes but made the decision to complete my course from Spain and join efforts with this amazing organisation. I arrived in the early days of the charity and there was a lot of work to be done to ensure clear channels of communication, recruit key volunteers and build important connections with the local town halls and authorities.
Hope4U is the definition of a grassroots charity, and its success has relied on the local communities all coming together to offer help. I was overwhelmed myself going through all the applications for volunteers and housing, it was amazing to see! Within a week we had established volunteer groups covering a range of services. We also received an amazing amount of donations, from clothes to furniture and baby supplies. These were available for arriving Ukrainians and then the remainder taken to Poland for shelters and orphanages there. The charity has made over five trips to Poland, driving from Spain with supplies and driving back with refugees.
Once all these systems had been put in place, it was time to begin housing Ukrainians. We worked with lawyers to ensure a housing contract was in place to protect refugee families and site-visits were conducted prior to placement. The sheer resilience of the refugees which I had the pleasure of meeting was incredible; despite the long and traumatic journey they had taken they remained positive, and it was important to remember they are normal people just like us.
After a few weeks I had to return home to Scotland but I have been lucky enough to continue to see the amazing work Hope4U are doing first-hand through social media and charity connections. They have now safely placed over 100 Ukrainians and seven dogs into homes within the local communities, opened a charity centre in the local village and placed many refugees into work. The journey of Hope4U to these amazing milestones has not always been an easy one, the Spanish government has offered no help to Ukrainians in terms of housing and often the language barrier proved difficult to manage. However, no challenge has been too big for Hope4U. They have now set up free English and Spanish lessons for Ukrainians, placed all the children in schools close to their new home and even hired some of the refugees to work with them for their language skills and for their key insight into the challenges of resettlement. The charity also has a dedicated service for mental health, with qualified volunteer councillors and a hotline for Ukrainians to reach out to for help, or just for someone to talk to in their own language about how they are feeling. There are also community outreach volunteers who regularly check in on families in their area and offer them a friendly face!
It is crazy that something which began as an idea from a small town in the countryside of Spain, with just a Facebook page as their main base, has transformed into a fully functioning and incredible charity, with a huge team of dedicated volunteers around it. The selflessness of the amazing husband and wife team, Lauren and Richard McEnery, has really saved the lives of families fleeing Ukraine and I am so grateful and fortunate to have been able to play a small role in this project!
Slava Ukraini!