November 2023

In November 2023, we at Wave served 1664 hot meals, welcomed 49 new arrivals, distributed 431 clothing items, 9 sleeping bags, 463 hygiene items, ran 129 showers, charged 263 phones and power banks and washed 95 loads of laundry. In the past month, we supported 84 people detained in Pre-Removal Detention Centres with clothing, hygiene items and coffee.

Increase of new arrivals of Palestinians

In the last month, we have seen a rise in the number of Palestinian arrivals to our centre, the majority of which have been transferred from the surrounding islands to Thessaloniki.  Although the majority of this group have received positive decisions with regard to their individual asylum cases, this community is in desperate need of material assistance due to the fact that access to services and support in Northern Greece is complex and stretched. In combination with a sharp rise in prison package requests and a severe lack of material donations, this new trend has placed significant pressure on our ability to provide warm clothing to those who need it. In this regard, we want to express our thanks to our long-term donor Renata for their recent donations of socks and boxers which have helped sustain us during this time.

Winter Fundraiser

As November has drawn to a close, our winter fundraiser was launched with a target of raising 3000 euros. With a focus on raising money to buy essential warm clothing such as thermals, jumpers, jackets and sleeping bags, the winter fundraiser is crucial in supporting our community with much-needed supplies to endure the harsh winter months in precarious housing situations. If you would like to donate to our winter fundraiser please follow the link: https://gofund.me/7fd840fb

Visit from Romain 

At the beginning of November, we warmly welcomed Romain Kosellek – a talented photographer and documentary filmmaker who previously joined Wave in 2020. During his visit, Romain recorded different aspects of our project through film and imagery- we are very thankful to Romain for his hard work, generosity and ongoing dedication to Wave. Merci Romain!

Wave Cookbook

As the winter months press on, there is an even greater need to provide filling, nutritious and fresh food to our community. In order to do this, our volunteers have begun organising a WAVE Cookbook which seeks to serve both as a source of inspiration for forthcoming volunteers and community members to cook with, as well as a piece of work which compiles and combines differing flavours from the community we serve.