On the Collective Aid website the WASH project has not yet been uploaded for what we are currently doing in Belgrade (which began in October 2020.)
The WASH project is a hygiene facility where people on-the-move (more commonly known as refugees) who are travelling through the Balkan Route, come to shower and do laundry while they are in Belgrade.
We also offer our services to all displaced Serbians in the area who do not have access to hygiene facilities.
This facility is desperately in need, as many people using our service are sleeping rough in the city and therefore have very little access to any type of hygiene facilities. Moreover, they have very few belongings, so it is vital they are able to wash the clothes they do have. Furthermore, many individuals using our services have just been pushed back from neighbouring countries the previous evening and as a result are very dirty and need our shower services as soon as possible.
To continue, we also offer a sock-exchange service where people can get socks or exchange their dirty ones at our centre. This is very necessary as the people we are working with are spending a large majority of their day travelling on foot, as a result good foot-wear is necessary to minimise feet injuries.
We are now working on getting money for an added underwear distribution.
The way our project is run is by our WASH and outreach team. Our outreach team goes into Belgrade in the morning and books people on-the-move for a 20 minute shower appointment at our centre. Our WASH team runs the centre throughout the day. Our laundry service is a drop-in service, where people can come at any time throughout the day to wash their clothes. We have two volunteers a day on outreach and three volunteers a day working at our WASH centre. These two teams stay in contact with each other through out the day to update each other on the location of people on-the-move and various police presence.
Our centre is open from 9:40am-5:20pm Monday-Saturday.