The Romanian Aid Foundation & Asociatia Neemia

As has been the case in the previous couple of years in the Dorohoi area, a relatively mild and benign January has been followed by a capricious February. Blizzards, high winds and temperatures of -15C tend to hide the green shoots that are harbingers of Spring. Similarly, the disruptions and challenges of both COVID and Brexit have tended to mask the small steps that we are able to make towards helping those in need.

Nevertheless, we have continued to provide those in need with clothing from stocks retained for the winter and some food purchased locally thanks to the receipt of funds for this purpose. We have also been able to provide some furniture, much of which had been passed onto us as surplus to another organisation’s requirements. There are still constraints on person-to-person contact but donations can still be made via the office or direct delivery to people at home. These working conditions can become tedious and tiring for our team but they have continued to work with enthusiasm. Masks and disinfectant are still necessary but this is not entirely a bad thing; certainly it has encouraged a level of hygiene which may have been unfamiliar to some of our visitors previously!

In due course, the opportunities for employment in construction and agriculture will return, allowing some people to obtain an income or start to grow food again. The warmer weather will also reduce the number of calls for help with fuel bills and requests for firewood.

AN has received the first stage of official approval to continue to receive goods from the UK on a charitable basis, but each load will require further documents and approval. This is basically a return to a situation similar to that before Romania joined the EU in 2007, but simplified a little by the introduction of electronic communications. We trust that it will work well in practice. In the UK, RoAF has obtained the necessary registration for exporting goods but each load will require further documentation, and a higher degree of coordination between the various groups preparing the goods will be necessary. We have two further centres for collection of aid for Dorohoi in Swansea and Lampeter. Both these will have to have the same documentation when loading their lorries and use the RoAF EORI registration. The way the aid is packed and documented will need to be the same for all three centres from now on.

The Horley team does not anticipate resuming collections, packing and sorting until later in the year. However a lot of work is being done toward preparing the goods that we have already, including weighing and marking the hundreds of boxes which did not leave before January 1st. After our next lorry, which we hope to send by June 2021, we will be more certain that our packing method and documents are good. However, it seems likely that the diversity of goods in each load may have to be limited. We have to emphasize that we cannot accept any more items until we have clarified the process of preparing the new paperwork.

In south Wales, where the regulations differ from those in England, operations have not returned to their previous levels but we endeavour to maintain a near-normal service within the rules of Covid. More materials are arriving but the condition of the warehouse is a cause for concern; hopefully it will dry out now the winter is passing.

As part of our tithing of RoAF’s resources, we have been able to help a medical initiative in Arad. ASPA One Life works with the established services to provide emergency responses, first-aid and health education. See the Facebook page under the title of ‘ASPA One Life’ for information from that charity.

This month’s featured photos

• family box
• classroom furniture
• food and clothing

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Photo Gallery: Click on any of the photos for enlargements, more details or similar photos.


The need to comply with social distancing and health protection measures means that the preparation of our news updates has been adversely affected; in particular in the number of photos that we can take and in keeping up-to-date with our donation statistics. Normal service with be resumed – but when?

Last month’s performance statistics

These statistics give a snapshot of our aid-related activities last month.

Stats notes:
– Joiners are new registrants this month, Leavers are are those whose latest recorded donation was 12 months ago.
– Some households may receive more than one donation during a month (eg, repeat donations of food).
– Items shown as 0 or as “…” are awaiting final returns for the month.

 
Previous month’s news, February 2021