Much needed aid will be on the way to Palestine thanks to women in Neepsend donating pre-loved clothing.
A clothes swap event, which is taking place Wednesday 18th March between 6pm and 8pm at Neepsend Social Club, also aims to bring women of the area together and help the environment.
Liz Kyh, organiser of the event and assistant manager of Neepsend Social Club, said she wanted to create an event ‘that wasn’t just a way for people to get together’ but also something that could ‘actually help’, so she is working with Makki Mosque to send the donations to Palestine.
Liz said: “I saw on their website that they were sending aid over and I can’t imagine how difficult it is to be passing stuff through like that, which is why I want to try and make sure that it gets sent there.”
It has become difficult for resources to reach Palestine, as 37 major aid groups, such as Oxfam, CARE and Doctors Without Borders, have had their licenses revoked by Israel earlier this year after refusal to disclose their staff, funding, and operational structures.
This decision was heavily criticised and described by the UN as ‘outrageous’ and ‘the latest in a pattern of unlawful restrictions on humanitarian access’.
Makki Mosque’s clothing bank is managed by the Ummah Welfare Trust, which operates with a 100% donation policy, has clothing banks set up across the country, and continues to send aid to Palestine.
This is one of many clothes swaps that Liz has hosted, previous ones having been donated to women’s shelters or handed out personally to homeless people.
She has plans for future swaps, as she said: “I want to expand it and do a children’s clothes swap to help young mums here as well that are struggling, like if they have baby clothes and need to go up a size because then those can be sent over as well so there’ll be a choice of children’s clothes.”
Liz said that her end goal for the clothes swaps is to create a women’s only space to ‘make it more safe and more approachable’ for women in the area, and to continue donating to people in need.
