Gruber goes to Greece

Aim

Fundraising for costs of driving from the UK to Lesvos

I’m looking to raise money for a big drive to Greece from England at the start of November.

Back in January of this year I volunteered at Parea on the Greek island of Lesvos at a community centre for refugees and displaced people who had made it to the island and were being held in the refugee camp near Mytiline.
I spent two months helping distribute hot drinks and meals, facilitating workshops in the women's only area as well as driving a mini bus where people less able to do the walk up the hill could access the centre.

The journey by sea from Turkey is not straightforward and years of reports from migrants of abuse and illegal pushbacks make an already stressful situation much worse. I had no idea about pushbacks at sea till I had arrived to Lesvos, I think as a British citizen with the culture like it is about migrants arriving by boat it is something to be wary of though, more info here if you’re a bit like wtf is that about 

The drive will involve a few ferries, it will be pricey. Anyone that knows me, will know I was very fortunate after losing my mum that I was left with a little pile of money but that is now dwindling due to irregular work alongside the cost of living back in the UK and I naively thought finding reliable work would be easy this year, I was wrong.

If you know any charities or organisations on the way to Lesvos that might need help feel free to get in touch. 

When I leave the UK I plan to take aid to Calais then from there I will head to Lesvos via Luxembourg, Germany, Austria, Slovenia, Croatia, Serbia, North Macedonia then finally, Greece.

The target amount I would like to raise reflects the average cost of ferries via the most efficient route alongside fuel costs of driving my little van all the way there and then an amount to buy supplies for charities en route where needed. 

I don't think a huge paragraph of why i want to do this is necessary but it makes me happy to have a purpose, to help people who didn’t win the lottery of where they were born. Watching the news and seeing how hostile Europe is becoming makes me feel a bit lost and doing this feels like it might make a handful of people feel welcome at the cost of me taking a few months out to go for a long drive.

If you can’t afford to donate please don't feel like you should, I just thought it would be a nice idea and as my birthday is coming up this feels like a good way to utilise any friend's kindness or just anyone that is sick of the news and wants to feel like they are helping. I will probably document my journey somehow, i guess substack is a thing i could do since i’m too old for tik tok now. 

If you want to help in a less financial way I plan to take winter clothing with me as donations alongside toiletries, phone chargers and children's clothes/toys/books to Calais. If you think you have anything that might be of use just let me know and i’ll sort collecting it no probs.

Thanks for reading :-)

Funding method

Keep what you raise – this project will receive all pledges made by 21st October 2026 at 9:27pm