10 Years of GAiN

(2021-2022)

In 2025 we are celebrating ten years of GAiN UK!

We want to take you on the journey of GAiN over the last decade, sharing stories and highlights from each year. We continue this month by featuring our 7th and 8th years in operation.

You can find all the posts in this series on our “News” page.

2021

Housing around 9,000 refugees, Bosnia and Herzegovina became a highly-populated area for those escaping the terrors of war and crisis, in the hope of a better future. Following a fire in the main temporary camp in Lipa in December 2020, thousands of refugees were left to find shelter in nearby forests or to travel to nearby towns in search of shelter. GAiN along with a couple of other organisations in the UK pooled our efforts to respond to this crisis by sending an emergency container of aid in early 2021.

Over the course of the year we sent a total of six shipments of aid to help refugee relief efforts in Greece and Bosnia, as well as to partners in Romania and Serbia. This was a huge step up from what we were previously able to send.

We were only able to send this much aid overseas due to our Collection Points across the country. In 2021, we started to form a network of individuals, churches, and organisations who would be listed as a drop-off point for aid. This meant that someone who wanted to donate a bag of clothes could bring it to their nearest Collection Point before it was shipped to our hub in Birmingham.

I volunteered to be a collection point because our new house had an outbuilding which we were able to store donations in. I hosted a packing session where I offered pizza to friends which was a fun and relationship-building experience. It was a tangible way to respond to the humanitarian crisis in Ukraine, and since we are a relatively prosperous city, it linked people who wanted to pass on some of their unneeded items to good causes, so I was able to be a link in the chain.

Emma A.

GAiN Collection Point

2022

This year was marked by the Russian invasion Ukraine in February. We were all shocked to see war in Europe and the country was moved to action to help those suffering and fleeing from the war.

Over the year, an incredible £111,000 was donated to our Ukraine crisis appeal. With this money and together with our partners, we sent six trucks to Ukraine. Three trucks were full of food like rice, pasta, vegetables, and baby food. The other three trucks were donated relief items including hygiene products, hospital beds, warm clothes, and sleeping bags.

GAiN worldwide were mobilised to work together in a new way, As a result of the generosity of our partners, £4,292,000 in donations was entrusted to GAiN. With these donations, we estimate that over two million people were served in 2022 in Ukraine and the neighbouring countries hosting refugees.

It was very heartwarming to see the massive response and outpouring of help when the war broke out in Ukraine. Our partners told us of tears and grateful hearts as people received these gifts, knowing they are not alone in this world.

Heidi Helbig

GAiN UK's Ukraine Response lead

2025 update – relief to Bulgaria

Currently in Bulgaria, there are no social services for appropriate temporary accommodation and no functioning guardianship system for unaccompanied and separated children in Bulgaria. This has led to rampant abuse and neglect of children. There are also very few supports available for adults living in poverty leading to a large homeless population.

With a growing need for services for separated children and homeless adults, St Sofia and St Dimitar were opened to give temporary shelter to those in need. There are currently over 125 children and over 450 adults living in these shelters. Both shelters are in desperate need of food, clothes, and shoes as the residents often arrive with very little and cannot move on without appropriate supplies.

A truck with 24 pallets of aid has left on the 1st October to our partner in Sofia and another one is planned for December.

A tragic and unexpected event marked this quarter—a local government demolition of half a neighbourhood, which instantly left many families homeless. Entire homes were torn down without adequate notice or planning. In the chaos that followed, our team mobilised immediately. For several consecutive days, we were present on-site, supplying affected families with emergency food, clean water, clothing, and shoes. The shock on their faces slowly turned to relief as they saw we were not leaving them alone in their darkest hour. We witnessed children hugging shoes as if they were treasure. One elderly man whispered, “You came faster than anyone else. Thank you for caring.”

10 Years of GAiN (2021-2022)