In March, it will be seven years since I started at Second Tree. What I thought would be a few months has become something that has reshaped my life entirely. Along the way, I stepped into the role of Director of Programmes, Partnerships, and Training, and I just finished a master’s degree at the London School of Economics while working at Second Tree.

This past year has been the hardest I’ve experienced in Greece. Because of policy changes across Greece and Europe, people I know personally were denied the right to seek asylum, pushed into homelessness, and forced to live in conditions no one should accept. In camp, families have dealt with cockroaches, leaking containers, broken windows and no proper winter clothing for freezing temperatures. Some children are still wearing flip-flops in winter.

At the same time, the sector here has been hit hard by USAID cuts. Almost every organisation we work alongside in Greece has downsized or closed. While others were pulling back, we opened programmes in another camp to reach a deeply underserved community. Today, we are the only organisation operating in the three camps we serve, offering essential support to more than 2,000 people.

Second Tree will always show up on the ground, but we also work for long-term change, through training, advocacy, policy work, and thought leadership that pushes Europe to be more welcoming and more humane. That work matters more than ever right now.

In the middle of all this, our youth education programme has become even more vital. Many children are not in formal school at all; those who are often not properly supported by teachers, fall behind, and get bullied. Our youth programme is funded almost entirely by individual donations, people like you.

If you can give this New Year, please donate today. Your support keeps the youth programme running, keeping kids learning, playing, and believing in a future where they can become the doctors, gymnasts, and football players they talk about becoming.

Thank you for standing with us, especially in a year like this.