SCCL Charity Raffle supports | The Salvation Army - Refugee Centre & Trauma Counselling

The Salvation Army - Refugee Centre & Trauma Counselling - Riga, Latvia.

Our aim is to provide support and care to refugees currently residing in Latvia, through providing psycho-social care, emergency assistance (to those who are newly arrived) and meaningful activities and relationships - leading to improved well-being and integration in society.

The Refugee Centre offers various activities including language conversation classes (Latvian and English), women's groups, art classes, poetry evenings, lectures on emotional intelligence and coping skills, cultural excursions, exercise groups, masterclasses and the like. Alongside the scheduled activities, the centre is also open from 10-16 daily for people to drop in and find fellowship and care from other refugees and volunteers. Several hairdressers and beauticians offer their services free of charge to the visitors of the centre. The centre also shares a clothing distribution room with another ministry in the same building where guests can find clothing, shoes and other small items free of charge.

The centre manager takes appointments with those seeking emergency assistance (and who have been in Latvia for 2 months or less) and offers them practical support in the form of supermarket gift cards and a portion of any items that have been donated in-kind. Our psychologist takes up to 16 appointments per week, with adults, children, and groups - she meets people struggling with war-related traumatic stress, as well as general issues relating with life and integration. 

Our project is supported by The Salvation Army International, specifically Sweden, USA and UK. However, a large portion of our funding has to be raised locally. During 2024-25 we are aiming to locally raise a total of 35,000 EUR towards this project. At the moment, our focus is on raising support for the work of our psychologist. Each adult session is valued at 50EUR/session, and each child session at 35EUR/session. Any support towards this goal is gratefully received, and any gift of 35EUR or more will receive an optional thankyou gift of decorative postcards. 

Read more at:  https://pestisanasarmija.lv/centers/beglu-centrs/