World Jewish Relief has launched a new report which reveals that the British Jewish community has helped over 17,500 refugees in Greece and Turkey over the past year.

Following our emergency appeal launched in September 2015, your support has provided:

• 3,169 children with winter kits including coats and blankets. These children were based in bitterly cold camps on the Turkish-Syrian border
• 2,050 back-to-school kits helping refugee children and their families in Turkey achieve some normality after being uprooted from their homes and schools
• 4,837 people with vital medical care in Greece
• 7,474 refugees with humanitarian essentials such as water, food and warm clothes in Greece

The report also tells for the first time the powerful story of Adnan*, a talented sixteen-year-old artist who, thanks to World Jewish Relief’s help, has been able to continue cultivating his talents. Adnan arrived in Lesvos together with his younger brother following a very difficult journey which included the loss of many family members. After being held in cramped conditions with other children, a new facility was set up to look after minors with medical and psychological support provided. After noticing Adnan’s artistic skills, staff encouraged him to cultivate his talent culminating in an art gallery in Lesbos exhibiting his drawings.

Our Refugee Crisis Appeal has raised nearly £944,000 making it the organisation’s second largest ever behind the 2004 Boxing Day Tsunami. Donations are still welcome and will be spent on ongoing refugee projects in Greece. We are particularly grateful to the Jewish Coalition for Disaster Relief for its generous support of our appeal.

Paul Anticoni, World Jewish Relief’s chief executive, said: “One year ago, a photo of a three-year-old Syrian boy named Alan Kurdi washed up on a beach, shocked the world into action. Thanks to the British Jewish community’s outstanding generosity, over the past year, we’ve made a difference to 17,557 lives.”

JW3 and World Jewish Relief are hosting an event to look at the refugee crisis, one year on, on September 21, 6.45pm at JW3.

*name changed to protect his identity