Sheffield Hallam students in fundraising bid to help refugee families in Lebanon

The group of film and production students travelled to the Beqaa Valley, in eastern Lebanon, to make a series of films to raise awareness of the displacement of refugees from Syria.

Now they want to help the people they met who welcomed them into their homes by raising funds for food bundles as their lives are currently threatened by the coronavirus lockdown.

As part of their efforts, the students recently raised £340 during a charity car wash with Dolphin Hand Car Wash – and are nearing their goal of £3,400.

Film and production lecturer, Saskia Wilson, said: “These families have been through so much and lost their homes and in many cases their loved ones during the conflict.

“Now they are struggling once again as a result of the pandemic and we want to do everything we can to support them.”

In Lebanon there are around 1.5 million refugees still living in camps – more refugees per capita than any other country in the world – and around a third are in the Beqaa Valley.

Covid-19 has left them unable to leave their camps to find the labouring work which was keeping them afloat meaning they are now solely reliant on outside help.

To support just one refugee family for three months costs £51, with the total funds raised split between them and Children on the Edge, a charity which helps the world's most marginalised children to realise their rights through the provision of education and protective environments.

It also funds the school in the Baqaa Valley where the staff and students.

Media student, Aislin Plaistow, said: “Meeting the families in Beqaa Valley was the best experience of my life. We are so pleased to have had the opportunity to work with the talented school children, as well as see first-hand the incredible work that the teachers and parents are doing there.

“We cannot put into words how worrying it must be for the families out there, not knowing if they will have enough money for food from one day to the next."

To donate visit www.justgiving.com/fundraising/syrianrefugeeslockdown.

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