In 2024 we’re going D.I.Thighs — Do It Thighself!

Join Thighs of Steel and MASS Action in fundraising for projects working in solidarity with migrants and refugees in Europe and the UK! This summer, individual and groups of cyclists are riding and fundraising in solidarity with migrants and refugees, getting the word out about the violent borders of Europe, and supporting the excellent work so many grassroots orgs are doing!

Migration to and across Europe continues as borders get more violent and funding for smaller, grassroots projects that support displaced people dries up. Through our platform, we want to encourage fundraising efforts in support of projects working in solidarity with migrants and refugees in Europe and the UK. We have longstanding partnerships with many grassroots projects that work across a range of support areas in a variety of locations. We will distribute the funds raised to the following partner projects: Khora (Greece), Mazi Housing Project (Greece), Calais Appeal (France). Read on for more information about these projects!

Thank you to all those cycling the miles and donating the £££s. You can support our initiative by donating to this crowdfunder, hosting your own cycling fundraiser, or sharing our work!

Khora

Khora Athens is an association and a non-hierarchical collective that provides dignified access to asylum support, food, clothes, creative workshops, and community space.

Open since 2016, they are committed to their core values: solidarity, autonomy, community, and the fundamental right to basic means to live in Athens. Khora is composed of four volunteer-run working groups across three buildings in Athens:

The Social Kitchen provides 700+ free meals a week, along with a community space to eat in and socialise;

The Free Shop provides free clothes and hygiene products to 300 families a week;

The Beehive offers a creative space for women and LGBTQIA+ people;

KAST (Khora Asylum Support Team) is a team of caseworkers who supported 2900+ people on the move in 2023 by sharing legal, social, and medical information, making referrals, and providing accompaniments.

Find out more here.

Mazí Housing Project

Mazí Housing exists to create safe, stable housing for displaced men who are homeless and unaccompanied in Athens. They do this because no one else does.

Mazí helps people transition from camp-rooted limbo or street homelessness, to a place where they can support their own accommodation, and make real choices as they engage positively with society. Mazí supports deprioritised demographics, which means young men who are travelling alone in Greece. Often perceived as strong and independent, while also expected to provide, these young men who face barriers to society become vulnerable to exploitation. At Mazí, residents have safe accommodation from where they are supported to address health problems, develop skills, find work and build independence.

Learn more here.

Calais Appeal

Calais Appeal is a coalition of seven grassroots humanitarian aid organisations in Calais and Dunkirk who have shared resources and expertise during the many years that they have been working on the ground. Calais Appeal collaborates to provide food, firewood, clothing, essential legal information, basic shelter to people seeking safety and much more.

Calais Appeals members include Calais Food Collective, Project Play, Collective Aid, Refugee Community Kitchen, Woodyard, Channel Info Project, Refugee Women's enter, and utopia 56.

Read more here.

Calais Food Collective

Calais Food Collective is a grassroots organisation, providing food and water and advocating for autonomy for displaced people at the French-British border. Our work is divided into three different projects: food, water and advocacy. We are currently raising funds to ensure we can continue providing food and water to people on the move in Calais.

Our food project focuses on providing cooking ingredients to displaced people living in and around Calais, allowing them the autonomy and dignity to prepare their own meals. The ingredients we distribute include fresh vegetables, pasta, rice, tinned goods, and eggs, as well as kitchen utensils and washing-up liquid. We are currently running out of stock of coffee, sugar, and chickpeas and seeking funds to replenish our stocks.

We also provide displaced communities in Calais with clean and accessible water through the installation of nine semi-permanent water tanks close to living sites. The largest expense for the water project is our monthly water bills, which allows us to continue providing drinking water to around 2000 displaced people at any one time.

Read more here.

Glasgow Autonomous Space/Unity Language Exchange

Glasgow Autonomous Space hosts Unity Arabic English Language exchange which is co-run those in the asylum system who attend. All facilitation of sessions and decision making is shared, including conversation topics and how the session is structured. The informal space builds community and confidence in speaking English outside of structured ESOL classes. Language exchange normally has a shared meal cooked by those who attend. Members of language exchange feel it is a space for mutual support, making meaningful friendships as well as learning both English and Arabic. They plan to organise activities and trips in the summer, money raised from this campaign will help support these activities.

Read more here.

Fáilte Centre

The Fáilte Centre takes its name from “Fáilte,” the Irish word for “welcome.” Fáilte (pronounced FAHL-chuh) emphasises our core approach: we welcome all individuals regardless of age, gender, background, nationality, political orientation or religion. In a seemingly unwelcoming and inhospitable environment for vulnerable individuals, we challenge this narrative.

Based in Athens, Greece. Our mission at The Fáilte Centre is to provide both individualised learning opportunities as well as mental health & psychosocial support (MHPSS) services in a welcoming and caring environment. We refer to those that come to Fáilte as individuals, rather than beneficiaries or vulnerable people. This philosophy is reflected in how we treat every person that comes through our door: as individuals who deserve dignified, tailored responses to their specific concerns and needs. Furthermore, the values of empathy, respect and inclusivity are incorporated into the services we provide at Fáilte.

Read more here.

Med'Equali Team

Med’Equali Team is an NGO that works to provide free medical care to displaced or vulnerable populations. Based in France, the NGO depends on private donations and grants, and does not receive government funds.

Since December 2023, Med’Equali Team opened a project in Northen Greece and has put in place different activities:

- Medical consultations 3 days a week in Wave’s community center, where dozens of people on the move and the general homeless population are welcomed every day for food, non-food items, showers, etc. We deploy doctors and nurses and address health issues resulting from unsustainable living conditions, such as scabies, infected wounds, lack of access to medicine, and long-term muscular issues.

- Medical consultations twice a week for the population in Lagadikia camp where medical coverage is lacking. In 5 months, we have seen 623 patients, including 186 women and 127 children.

- Cooperation with the many non-medical NGOs present in Northern Greece, to be a point of reference for medical questions.

- Ad hoc medical training for NGOs personnel and communities have been created with the aim of empowering actors and health promotion. Since the opening of the project 75 volunteers from other NGO have been trained to first aid and 81 beneficiaries to health education.

Read more here