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Massive Outpouring of Love

Dumfries & Galloway Refugee Action ~ SCIO: SC046366

Welcome to MOOL

Massive Outpouring of Love

· About us·

Massive Outpouring of Love was formed to offer love and support to displaced people wherever they are in the world. 

We believe that, together, we can build a better world; one where hatred has no home and people treat others the way that they would like to be treated.

We rely on the goodwill of our lovely volunteers to keep us going and we'd be delighted if you would be part of the MOOL family.

· Get Involved ·

Physical Donations

  • We’re at St Andrews Parish Hall, 27 Brooke St, Dumfries DG1 2JL.  We’re normally open on Fridays from 10:30 – 4:00 but there’s a great space for leaving donations at other times.

    As you go into St Andrew’s carpark there’s a low metal gate on your right.  There are steps going down behind the gate and you’ll find a clearly marked space under cover at the bottom of the steps.

  • Tents
  • Sleeping bags and blankets (not knitted)
  • Unlocked mobile phones with chargers (note – unlocking essential please)
  • Powerbanks
  • Tarpaulins
  • Backpacks
  • Rollmats
  • Bin bags

Good quality clean clothes and practical footwear:

  • Men’s and boys’ coats (especially small and medium sizes)
  • Jogging bottoms (joggers with cuff bottoms if possible) size 26-34 waist
  • Jeans, size 26-34 waist
  • New boxer shorts (esp small and medium, tight fit if possible)
  • Socks, hats and gloves
  • Hoodies and jumpers
  • T-shirts
  • Trainers
  • Rain ponchos
  • Practical women’s clothes up to size 18 (ie not party wear)
  • Clothes and shoes for school aged children
  • Toiletries and sanitary products
  • Anti-bacterial hand wash

All underwear must be new

NOT REQUIRED

  • Children’s toys
  • Baby clothes
  • Men’s trousers larger than 34’ waist
  • Electrical goods
  • Household Items
  • Handbags
  • Duvets/Pillows

Most of the refugees in France are young men. They are constantly on the move, partly because of oppressive police action which can mean that any items they have are destroyed.

  • Men’s clothes – these need to be small or medium sizes in dark colours.  Particularly warm jackets and footwear. They need to be clean and in good condition.
  • Camping equipment – tents, sleeping bags, blankets, rain ponchos, tarpaulins, rucksacks.

When possible we send to refugee camps in the Lebanon, Greece (currently closed to humanitarian aid), the Balkans and elsewhere.

Newsletter

Notes of Love

Don’t forget notes of Love – with all the donations we are always looking for notes of love and support to include with our actual donations.  You can see some examples here

 

As has always been true, it’s not committing you to anything, just giving us the opportunity to tell you when opportunities which match your interests come up.

Financial Gift

Wondering what else you can give us? We always need Money! Financial donations are always a more effective and efficient method of getting help to where it is needed most.

Whatever you can spare will be greatfully recieved.

The most effective way to help is to donate via bank transfer to MOOL’s Business Account.

Name: Massive Outpouring of Love (MOOL)
Sort code 80-22-60
Account No 14196360.

This means all your money will go directly to helping people in need. If you can do this, especially if you can set up a standing order that would be amazing!

Possibly one of the easiest way to donate is through Easyfundraising.org.uk.  Mool can get money as you shop! You can sign up at https://www.easyfundraising.org.uk/causes/massive-outpouring-of-love-mool/.

You can donate through the Paypal link here.  Please be aware that fees will be deducted from your donation unless you opt to cover them in the process.

If you’d like your money to go to a specific item (sleeping bags, phone credit, fuel), then please indicate this in the notes/reference section when you donate.

If you are able to Gift Aid your donation that’s really fantastic and, as you probably know, it doesn’t cost you anything. 

You can fill in a donation form online by clicking one of the links below.

Online Single Donation Form

Online Multiple Donation Form

· Lets Talk ·

MOOL is always delighted to come and talk with your school, staff or community group about the refugee crisis in general and the grassroots work that we do.

We have members who have volunteered in camps in Calais and Dunkirk, and others who have been the first point of contact for refugees arriving on rubber boats on the Greek coast, who are willing to share their experiences and insights; as well as members who work tirelessly, locally, collecting and processing aid to help those in need.

We can offer presentations and discussions, both formal and more casual, which shed light on how the crisis originated; explain some of the different misleading terms and ‘statistics’ that are used by the press; challenge some of the negative misconceptions surrounding refugees, asylum seekers and displaced people; and show people how they can become empowered and instigate change. We can tailor these events to suit most audiences and age ranges, please message us for more details.

We also love multicultural gatherings, where we can find out more about each others backgrounds, food and customs so, if you’d like to link with us and help families that have settled locally feel more at home in the community, then please get in touch and, together,  we can create something wonderful!

· Our Partners ·

We couldn’t do the work that we do without our amazing volunteers and the wonderful groups that we have partnered up with as our organisation has developed. Please pop over and see what they are up to, they really are a jolly decent lot!

Working on the ground in Dunkirk, these amazing folk provide vital aid and support to displaced people who are struggling to stay alive in makeshift camps which are destroyed regularly by the police. They also provide the opportunity to charge mobile phones so people can stay in touch with their families.

Communication Workers Union Humanitarian Aid (CWUHA) is a charitable organisation which was set up in response to the plight of vulnerable children. We operate mainly in Eastern Europe, in the UK, Republic of Ireland and Africa. In 1998 CWUHA became a registered charity.

Glasgow The Caring City, with a 20+ year track record of helping in crises at home and abroad, is working with third sector partners to provide targeted aid to Ukrainians fleeing their country.

This initiative started in August 2014 with an email to the mothers in Samara Levy’s son’s year group, appealing for winter clothes and shoes to send to the people displaced in Iraq who lost everything when IS took their towns, cities and villages.

It has quickly grown into a larger project which provides medical and humanitarian aid, currently focused on Syria. We have sent 110 consignments (artic lorries to Iraq, and 40’ containers and ambulances shipped to Syria) carrying clothes, shoes, bedding, toiletries/hygiene items, essential medical equipment, ambulances and school equipment.  We have also provided four small emergency field hospitals in different locations, at different times during the conflict.  We also support food farming projects and run an outreach centre for orphans and widows in Syria which feeds and educates 40-70 orphans every day as well as providing livelihood training for widows. The centre has proved such a success that we are building a second in a different location. We are also about to open our first permanent medical centre, which is the first stage towards designing and building a new hospital.

The aid we provide serves vulnerable people, and our teams serve everyone in need regardless of their faith, political views, gender, ethnicity or other defining categories.  Our aim is to demonstrate the unconditional love of God to people who are in great need.

A Carlisle group are setting out to provide help for those trapped in horrific conditions in Calais, and to also provide support to refugees in other parts of Europe. Our first action, inspired by a delivery of essential items to Calais that set off from Penrith last month is to gather tents, warm clothes, tinned goods and other supplies to take to Calais from Carlisle.
This group will not tolerate any kind of abuse or hate speech and will remove and block at our discretion should any comments be offensive or deemed to go against the purpose of the page.
Please also be aware that sharing distressing images may divert our energies away from action to relieve suffering.
Thank you for all your support.

SAFR was set up in September 2015 & we registered as a charity in November 2016. Over this time we have co-ordinated various projects, all achieved by the support & commitment of the SAFR community

Edinburgh Direct Aid

  • delivers aid to people in desperate need in far away places.
  • has been registered in Scotland as a charity, number SC021007, since 1992.
  • is an all-volunteer charity: no-one is paid except local staff in destination countries.
  • does not use expensive advertising or percentage fund-raisers.
  • delivers aid and a hand of friendship, in person, always.

· The MOOL Board ·

Chair
Shirley Ferrier

Shirley was appointed Chair of Trustees for MOOL in January 2024.

Shirley started volunteering with MOOL in mid 2021 and she is often seen in the Depot. She also gets involved in other activities including welcome and social events and preparing housing for incoming refugees.

Shirley has recently retired from a long career in the Corporate World, specialising in HR. Shirley has been actively involved with Charities for the homeless and refugees for several years. Prior to moving to Dumfries and joining MOOL, this included collecting and sorting donations for refugees as well as frequent trips to Calais to distribute aid and donations to asylum seekers.

Trustee
Angus Hoban

Angus comes from the Isle of Man and is married to his Dutch wife Johanna, they have 3 grown up children.
He worked as a precision engineer for 10 years manufacturing aircraft ejector seats.
They moved to Scotland 10 years ago and have been involved with charity work and volunteering.
Angus is happiest when playing guitar and singing with his friends.
He recently joined MOOL as a trustee and enjoys mixing and mingling with the displaced folk in the town.

Trustee
Christine Jardine

Christine is fairly new to MOOL. After a lifetime working in IT, she is providing some IT support as well as being Treasurer. MOOL is a cause very close to her heart. Christine's father left his native Poland in the late 30s to walk across Europe with his best friend. Along the way he fought, earned medals, and learnt a trade, before building a new life in Scotland. Christine wants to help others who are making Scotland their home.

Trustee
Liz Dawson

Liz lives on a small farm outside Castle Douglas. Liz trained as a Montessori teacher in London and taught for a number of years before training in ceramics.
 
In the summer and autumn of 2017, Liz went to the Greek island of Chios to help in the Norwegian run organisation called “A drop in the Ocean”. They were feeding, clothing and giving tents to around 900 Syrian refugees who had fled Syria, crossed Turkey and arrived on Chios by boat.
 
Since retiring from working in schools in the area, Liz wanted to get involved in volunteering again. She is delighted to be working for MOOL as a volunteer and in furthering the Education Programme.

Trustee
Julie Smith

Julie has worked in drama education for over 30 years. She now works freelance for the Scottish Qualifications Authority, and as a drama consultant. She retrained 7 years ago as a Swedish massage therapist and reflexologist, specialising in oncology massage. 

Julie has been actively involved with charities over many years, including MUMs and Smalls For All. She found ‘the joy that is MOOL’ when it was just starting up. She has been to Calais twice, working with refugees, and works as a depot volunteer and on the MOOL Education Programme.

Trustee
John Crosby

Although trained in ceramics, John’s working life consisted of furniture and public art design, make and installation.

One of a number of travel interludes resulted in a 3-year stint in the mid-1980s as part of an international presence in Colomoncagua, a Salvadorian refugee camp In Honduras. The Gringo became slightly less green when confronted with 8,500 unskilled and illiterate people from a political and socio-economic system directed by the United States, specifically designed to frustrate justice and opportunities for change.

Two children later, the best career move was retirement and discovering the immense pleasure of volunteering. This has been with migrants in Northern France, with the fab folk at MOOL, and currently little environmental projects within range of home.

 

· MOOL Staff ·

Operations Manager Lydia Burnett

Lydia joined MOOL in November 2022, having spent a number of years working in both the Third Sector and Health and Social Care.
 
With a background in quality improvement and organisational support and development Lydia is looking forward to building on the great work that MOOL has achieved and supporting the organisation through its next phase.
 
Happiest in her garden, Lydia also loves a good book and a cuppa with friends.

Volunteer Coordinator Louise Proctor

“Louise joined MOOL in September 2022.  Having worked as primary school teacher in D&G for 10 years, she moved out to Bangladesh to work as an Education Consultant in 2015, involved, amongst other things, in a preschool education project, setting up preschools for children otherwise unable to access education.
 
Since returning unexpectedly at the beginning of the Covid pandemic, Louise has been involved in a variety of voluntary roles wanting to use her time and skills to be of benefit to others.  She is delighted to be working with MOOL to help improve the lives of displaced people both in Dumfries and Galloway and abroad.”

· Drop us a line ·

You can write to us at Massive Outpouring of Love (MOOL), c/o St Andrews Parish Hall, 27 Brooke St, Dumfries DG1 2JL, which also the place to go to if you have donations for refugees or want to help sort and pack.   

You can use the contact form below or email us at hello@mool.scot

We’re open on Fridays from 10:30 – 4pm but please check the facebook page for changes.