Set up in October 2016, we managed the warehouse on site and within it ran a mini-market and an array of boutiques until December 2017.
This video shows what volunteering was like in November 2017
We had been supporting a couple of camps local to Alexandreia with regular food deliveries when we were asked by the Ministry to set up a permanent presence at Filippiada. Starting with a chaotic warehouse, we cleared the rooms and created separate spaces for the mini-market and different boutiques.
The fresh start in Filippaida gave us an opportunity to introduce a new way to distribute items in our mini-market that really put dignity at the heart of our distribution. Each individual on the camp was allocated points that they could spend in the mini-market once a week – 100 for adults, 75 for young teenagers, 50 for kids and an additional 50 for pregnant women. This meant they could choose whatever they want and we could stock the shop with whatever they needed. And it made life just a little more normal.
With so many rooms in the warehouse we were able to create a large reception area and dedicated boutiques for men, women, children and shoes. Each had their own look and feel.
And each had small details to make the shopping experience as positive as possible.
We also ran a small off-site warehouse for storage.
There were a number of other NGOs on the camp running activities for children and we regularly co-operated with them.
- Population: about 300 refugees (capacity 300), a mix of Syrian many of who are Kurdish, Afghan and Iranian almost all in family groups, about 40% under 16
- Services: mini-market, men’s boutique, men’s boutique, women’s boutique, kid’s boutique, shoe-tique, clothes sorting, kids’ activities