Lake Aid started in 2015, the same year as the “European migrant crisis”. That year, 1.3 million people came to Europe to request asylum, the most in a single year since World War II. Most were from Syria, but many also came from Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iraq, Nigeria, Eritrea, and the Balkans.
I first became aware of this crisis when I saw a photo in a newspaper of the body of a two-year-old Syrian boy washed ashore in Turkey. He was lying on his front and looked like he was asleep. He reminded me of my own daughter, then aged three, asleep on Talloires beach, tired out from a morning of playing. I couldn’t stop thinking about how lucky I was that my daughter was still alive, and how heartbroken the little boy’s family must have been.
So when I read on a Facebook group that someone from Saint-Jorioz was collecting clothes and toys to send to Syrian children in camps in Austria, I jumped at the opportunity to get involved. Afterwards, four of us sat in my kitchen and wondered whether there were asylum seekers nearer to Annecy. Suzanne Balthazard, as a FLE teacher, found out that there were families living in an old school in the city centre. She contacted the association in charge and asked if any of the children needed help with their homework. And this is how Lake Aid started.
At first a few volunteers went to the shelter once a week for “Homework Club”. Soon we were responding to requests from parents for pushchairs and warm clothing. When the shelter closed after the winter, we stayed in touch with many of the families, and started to organise outings for the children, then a Christmas party, and Baby Boxes for newborns.
Over time, we built relationships with local shelters and charities across the Annecy region. As Lake Aid grew, people began donating money and in 2017, we officially became a French-registered charity. Though we now have legal status, Lake Aid remains, at heart, a group of volunteers who share the same vision: “a welcoming and caring local community, through building relationships with unaccompanied minors, asylum-seeking children and families in need.”
Lake Aid is all about human connection. Holding out a hand to children in difficulty. Listening to displaced families and finding practical solutions to help them. Trying to make life that little bit easier for people who have had to leave their homes and families behind them. Lake Aid now also supports unaccompanied minors – helping them to integrate into local life and find work – as well as Ukrainian seniors living in Thones.
With the migrant crisis continuing, I’m incredibly proud of Lake Aid’s contribution, however small, to offering compassion and support in our local community, when it’s needed most.Our volunteer team has changed over the years as people have moved away, got new jobs, taken other commitments. But the heart of Lake Aid is still beating strong, and new volunteers are always warmly welcomed – so please don’t hesitate to reach out and get involved!
By Felicity Fallon, Lake Aid volunteer and former board member.
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