204 - Beds for a family settling into new home - May 2025

With this latest donation we have helped buy beds for a family, who had to flee their home in Afghanistan, with their children aged 9, 7 & 1,  and come to the UK, having worked with the British armed forces.

They have been granted  permission to live and work in England and were recently given a permanent place in a rented, unfurnished housing association house. 

They have been supported by Tracy, who operated 'The garage free stall for refugees and people in need' - an extraordinary initiative set up by Tracy when a local hotel in her area of Sheffield was housing refugees.  Tracy asked for donations of clothing, toys and other useful items and opened her garage every week to the refugees - and others in her community who might be in need.  We supported them 2 years ago, when we bought some shoes and underwear for the refugees.  The hotel is now no longer used for refugees, so the garage stall no longer operates on a regular basis, but Tracy has kept in touch with a number of families and continues to support where she can.

She told us she had managed to source most things the family needed - including helping them clean and redecorate their new home, which was in a dreadful state when they arrived - but she was really struggling to find beds for them, and asked if we could help.  We sent £500 which she used to buy 2 beds as well as a mattress for a second hand bed frame someone else kindly donated.

The husband has now found work with a package delivery company and they are settling into their new home.

We love that there are people like Tracy  in the community, welcoming and helping families like this one.  It is a welcome reminder of the goodness that is out there and we love working with people like her to make a difference to families' lives.