Through our volunteer training programme RespondIR, we’re committed to developing and sustaining a dedicated team of volunteers and staff ready to respond to local emergencies within 72 hours.
Barking Fire Recovery Response
After a fire broke out in Barking, London in June (2019), our RespondIR team stepped in to assist with recovery efforts. With 20 flats destroyed and a further ten damaged, a large number of people were left homeless and requiring specialist services.
Upon request of the British Red Cross – Crisis Response Team, in partnership with Barking and Dagenham Council and the Local Resident Association, Islamic Relief joined as a second responder to the recovery phase providing assistance to the predominantly Muslim population including:
- Helping to signpost residents to appropriate services at a service desk
- Assisting with the purchase of items in order to meet the religious and culturally-sensitive needs of residents, for example abayas (long gowns) and providing access to a local Imam
- Distributing clothes and refreshments
- Listening to residents and supporting them in a faith-sensitive manner
We will continue to work with the British Red Cross and local councils to provide culturally and faith-sensitive support as and when required during local and national emergencies.
When floods hit the county of Cumbria and city of York in 2015, Islamic Relief volunteer teams from across the UK joined forces with local organisations to support those affected. Volunteers worked tirelessly to fill thousands of sandbags and provide vital protection to homes at high risk of flooding in York.
In Cumbria, where the flooding affected many homes and left families stranded without necessary supplies, through the provision of £10,000 to local partners we supported local efforts to distribute food and household goods.
As a member of local resilience forums around the UK, Islamic Relief remains on call, committed to helping people in their hour of need, whenever that need may arise.