An Ealing Mosque rallied together to raise more than £8,000 for refugees and sent two of its members to Greece to deliver aid.
The West London Islamic Centre Ealing Mosque (WLICE), on Brownlow Road, West Ealing, raised the money along with clothes and food in December 2015.
Funds were donated to camp organisers on the Greek island of Lesbos to buy much-needed medicine for refugees in Moria and Pikpa, both in Lesbos, as well camp organisers in Miratovac, Serbia.
But WLICEM duo Imran Hamid and Rami Sawas, both from Ealing, took their generosity one step further by travelling down to Lesbos and Serbia to hand out clothes and food in January this year.
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Mr Hamid, a projects director who has lived in Hanwell , Ealing, for more than 30 years, said: "Their appreciation was overwhelming. We would like to express our thanks to everyone who supported this important initiative, a practical demonstration of our solidarity with those in need.
"Individual stories of the refugees are in most cases too painful to relay, and their courage in the face of extreme adversity is extraordinary.
"Traumatised refugees with children arrive on a daily basis having risk their lives, on ramshackle rafts, in freezing temperatures, crossing the Aegean sea from Turkey into Europe."
Families and children risking their lives
Mr Hamid and Mr Sawas, who was born in Syria but moved to Ealing more than 10 years ago, said they handed out the aid by using their judgment to determine who needed it most.
This included energy bars and coats.
According to Mr Hamid, more than 1,000 come to the visited spots in Lesbos every day either seeking refuge or passing through.
Camp workers, coming from across Europe as well as America and Australia, spend their nights looking out to sea to spot incoming boats.
WLICEM is now looking to arrange another trip to Calais to visit refugees after claiming that funds were donated after their last visit.
Mr Hamid added: "We can see people with familes and children are risking their lives to flee a dreadful situation, as a compassionate community we should try and help where we can."
The mosque are planning a visit to Calais and you can donate to their cause by visiting WLICEM to arrange a drop-in donation.
