Charity Connections

The National Police Aid Convoys was founded on a basis of strong links in the community. During the Balkan war local police officers used their knowledge and connections to deliver aid directly to people in need. NPAC now sends shipping containers to around a dozen countries around the world from Albania to Zanzibar. Freight costs are high for regions that are less accessible but money raising efforts through warehouse sales, talks and presentations, legacies and donations keep the aid moving. A recent talk by three Southwell dentists at the Bramley Centre library raised £315 for NPAC, Bridge 2 Aid and the Mercy Ships. NPAC have to plan a long way ahead how much aid to send and where it’s needed. We use out links with local people and visits in person to find out if aid has arrived, is being used, and is being looked after. As long as these three criteria have been fulfilled we will offer more support in the future.

NPAC has links to organisations in the UK that supply specialist items such as sewing machines, shoes, bicycles, and artificial limbs. There is a surfeit of equipment in this country which is perfectly serviceable; the major challenge is getting it where it can do some good. NPAC is ideally situated to provide transport that smaller charities cannot afford. The large containers that NPAC sends run at about £4000, but if a charity wants to send smaller items they are invited to pay just a share of the container so their shipment can get to where it needs to go.

NPAC has warehouses all over the East Midlands where volunteers give their time to sort through the goods donated and decide which can be sold to pay for shipping costs, and what could be better used in specific projects abroad. During our trip to Zambia my father, John Peterson, was involved in setting up the dental clinic at the Makeni Trust in Lusaka. He had sent over some equipment already, including a dental chair and some cabinetry, but there is plenty more to take out on NPAC’s next trip, in June 2015. The warehouse closest to us is gradually filling up with medical and dental equipment donated by the Nottingham Dental Society, Westbridgeford medical practices and Lincolnshire podiatrists and physiotherapists ready to be serviced and tested before shipping. John says “I have seen the difference these donations make to the people we visited and hope to do more. NPAC cannot fulfil every request that comes in but we do like to keep our promises.”

If you’re interested in the work NPAC does, check their website at www.npac.org.uk or email secretary@npac.org.uk.

First published in Southwell Life, January 2015.