Wed 31 / 05 / 17
Brighton Summit speaker- Paul Hutchings - Bringing relief to the refugees in Greece
Bringing relief to the refugees in Greece - Paul Hutchings
Paul tells his story of providing refugee aid in Greece and what he learnt in this most challenging of situations. Having worked in the refugee camp in Calais, France, he realised that while essential aid was delivered effectively, it was often chaotic, undignified and unpopular with the local population. In Greece, his team were determined to do things differently. His aim was to place the dignity of all refugees at the heart of their activities, look after volunteers’ welfare, co-operate with other agencies, and invest in the local economy.
They achieved a lot in a short space of time. Much of this was due to the inspirational dedication of his volunteers, but in such an emotional environment, they needed significant support and guidance. There were also other pressures: donors made many demands, and a lot of trust building and negotiation was needed to deal with the UN Refugee Agency, Greek military and other NGOs.
Gain insights from Paul that may change the way you see challenging situations.
About Paul
Paul was a market researcher for 25 years, running his own Brighton-based research consultancy since 2005. He founded Refugee Support Europe in April last year, with a Calais refugee camp colleague. In 12 months, Refugee Support had raised around £250,000, expanded to four refugee camps, and hosted about 400 volunteers from around the world. They focus on delivering food and clothing in dignified shop environments but also created a kitchen, a language school, pen friend scheme, playground and cafeteria. Also, when no other agency was able to respond, they provided services.
How Paul embraces the unknown
Working in a crisis means that everything is always changing so we really have no choice. The most important thing has been to realise that by following our guiding principle of dignity, volunteers and donors will come along to do what is needed, when it is needed.
F: @RefugeeSupportGreece
T: @RefugeeSGreece
Inst: refugeesupportgreece
YouTube: https://m.youtube.com/channel/UCkl2uXWd4salcSI6LNmPH3g
LinkedIn:https://www.linkedin.com/in/pjhutchings/
Copy by: Tell your story better
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