SEPTEMBER 2025 - Monthly Report

At Wave in September 2025, we served 2,333 hot meals, welcomed 32 new arrivals, charged 139 phones and power banks, ran 93 showers, and washed 51 laundry loads, distributed 630 hygiene packages, and 385 clothing items. 

 

The total population we supported this month was 1,546.

 

September Updates

As summer was coming to an end, our Community Centre got busier and busier – with an increase of approximately +13% total visitors compared to August 2025.  In addition to our regular community members that come often to our space, we’ve welcomed many new faces: people just passing through Thessaloniki, others residing in the nearby camps, while others are part of the local Greek community and they have recently discovered Wave. The increase in the numbers of community members could be related to the fact that seasonal summer jobs are coming to an end, which means that more people may be in need of our basic services.

At the same time, we are seeing an increased number of women accessing our services – some days making up to around 10% of the total number of people at Wave. With an open-door policy, we gladly welcome everyone that comes to our Community Centre and – since Wave has always had a predominantly male community – we quickly had to adapt to the new situation. We introduced a menstrual pads dispenser in our toilet, and we started offering women’s weekly hygiene packs, in addition to the packs offered to male community members. With safety and privacy as priorities, while offering equal services to all our community members, we provide women wishing to wash, with the shower container key, so that they can lock the unit from the inside and wash with privacy and security.

For the first time, this September, Wave participated in a festival and directly engaged the public of Thessaloniki. We had a booth at the ‘GreenWave Festival’, organised by the Ecological Movement and dedicated to issues οf environmental concern, social justice and solidarity. Our little stand offered a glass of freshly made juice, which we had made from the fruits donated to us by  the farmers’ market – highlighting Wave’s role in reducing food waste – while presenting Wave to the public. We’ve asked the public to guess the ingredients of our juice – a very hard question (!) – and engaged them in discussion about the work of Wave.  Overall, it was a great experience and a way for us to reach the local community and let them know about the Community Centre.

 

Project Firefly Distribution

We are very thankful to Project Firefly that organised a distribution of bags with clothes and hygiene items at Wave at the end of September. Each bag contained a t-shirt, underwear, socks, toothpaste, toothbrush, soap, shampoo as well as water and some biscuits. Wave also contributed to the distribution adding one pair of shorts that we purchased from our partner Naomi through our summer fundraiser. We received a lot of positive feedback from our community members, who were very thankful for the distribution. This feedback is further evidence of how few resources are available in the area for people in need of clothes or hygiene products. Thank you again Project Firefly, that continues to support us year after year with much appreciated distributions. Looking forward to seeing you again!