THE Diocese of Monmouth presented local refugee action group iNEED with a donation of £6,000 last month.

iNEED is based in Chepstow and was founded in 2015 in response to the Syrian refugee crisis. It collects and delivers aid supplies to Calais, Syria, Yemen and Greece, as well as working with refugees in south Wales.

Each year, the Bishop of Monmouth chooses charities to support with his Lenten fund.

This fund is money raised by all of the churches in the Diocese of Monmouth during the period leading up to Easter.

A spokesperson for the diocese said: “Bishop Richard was delighted to present a donation to iNeed for the excellent work that they do, supporting and acclimatising refugees into south Wales.

“Refugees are sometimes considered as an international problem and the numbers can seem overwhelming, but these charities are able to support the small number who come into south Wales and help with their needs and welcome them. It is a privilege to support the hardworking volunteers of this charity.”

Julia Rowe, one of the founding members of iNEED said: “It was overwhelming to receive such a large donation and feels like such a validation of our work.

“As a small local organisation, we can be flexible in responding to situations and, due to the huge number of volunteers who help us, we manage to keep our running costs low.

“Some of the money is likely to go towards transport costs to Lesbos in Greece where the situation is desperate at the moment.

“Often we work closely with individual refugees and their families and the help we give can be as simple as making sure they have enough clothes to wear. We recently bought clothing for a 7ft Sudanese man living locally as nothing we had been given would fit him. When we presented him with a pair of jeans a jumper and some T-shirts he was so grateful. He told us he looked like a real person again.

“We would like to thank the Bishop of Monmouth for this extraordinarily generous donation”

iNEED is currently appealing for warm clothing, bedding, toiletries and nappies and is also running a scheme to purchase bilingual children’s books written in English and either Arabic, Farsi or Pashto.

To find out how to donate aid or get involved or for more information visit the website www.refugeesineed.org.uk.