Carriers of Hope

Carriers of Hope started in May 2009 when it was noticed that there were a number of asylum seekers, refugees or recently arrived Eastern European migrants (primarily Roma people from Romania),living in the Coventry area, who were experiencing extreme poverty and lacking the most basic personal and household facilities.  Refugees from Syria, Afghanistan, Sudan and Eritrea, have also come to Coventry more recently.

They started by preparing and handing out carrier bags of ‘useful things’ and also encouraging friends and supporters, mainly from the local churches, to join in and help provide them. These carrier bags gave the name to Carriers of Hope.

KMC supports Carriers of Hope as and when it can.  At Christmas time in 2020,  and again in 2021, we donated shoeboxes full of toys, craft and personal effects to give to children of refugee families at Christmas.  We also collected boxes/tins of biscuits or sweets, together with a supermarket voucher, to enable the families to have something special to eat. 

In May 2023 we organised a Baby Shower in aid of the many refugee families in Coventry, and advertised it widely in the Kenilworth community, including nurseries and playgroups. An amazing amount of clothes and equipment was donated, and the team at Carriers of Hope were extremely grateful. 

This Christmas, 2023, we supported them again by collecting new and good second hand toys for the families, and also boxes of chocolates and biscuits. We also encourage the congregation to donate directly via the Carriers of Hope website.