Online auction to raise funds for refugees fleeing warzones

THE SHETLAND Solidarity with Refugees group will be holding an online fundraising auction this weekend as efforts redouble to help those fleeing Syria and other war-torn regions.

Rita Smith of the Shetland-based volunteer group said a “whole pile of gear” would be up for auction starting at 5pm on Friday (4 November) and closing at 8pm on Sunday.

Among the items are vintage bairns’ Fair Isle clothes, two refurbished American clocks, a pure amber necklace, a hand-carved wine goblet and glasses, a jigsaw, a metre-long model ship, a free professional foot treatment, a basket-making workshop with Jeanette Nowak and much more besides

Anyone wanting to bid for an item can do so by visiting the Shetland Solidarity with Refugees Facebook page, clicking on the online auction page and then putting their bids in the comment box below each item. Whoever has put in the highest bid by the Sunday night deadline will win the item in question.

She said the group would use the money either to fund sending more donations away to those in need, or by giving the money directly to the Care for Calais charity.

“It’s an ongoing thing,” Rita, who circumvented a roadblock to visit the Calais camp and deliver donations earlier this year, said. “There seems to be no let-up in the crisis going on in Syria and surrounding areas.

“Just because they’ve got [the] Calais [camp] emptied, it’s not anywhere near an end to it all. It’s more of the same, but peerier numbers of folk in different camps, and we will keep on doing anything we can.

“With this cold snap of weather, let it remind folk that it’s bloody cold out there, these folk don’t have a fine, cosy house – some folk are walking around with flip-flops on.”

Shetland Solidarity with Refugees is still seeking some donations – mostly suitcases, footwear and warm winter clothes for men and children. 

• You can access the online auction here from 5pm on Friday.