Walking 100km for ECHO Mobile Library

This June, we’ll be walking 100km through North Yorkshire in 24 hours to raise money for ECHO Mobile Library, a small but remarkable project working with refugees in Greece.

ECHO brings books, language resources and activities to people living in refugee camps and community spaces around Athens. As you will read below, ECHO fosters autonomy and resilience while creating a connection between isolated camps and the city, supporting mental health and offering moments of respite from the often-inhumane conditions they are forced to live in.

Why We’re Walking

At a time when conflict and displacement are affecting so many people around the world, it can sometimes feel difficult to know what practical support looks like. Projects like ECHO Mobile Library don’t solve those global problems. But they do something very important on a human scale, and this is why we want to support ECHO.

What ECHO Mobile Library Does

ECHO was founded in northern Greece in 2016 to provide library services for people living in refugee camps. Ten years later, the project is still going – a bittersweet feeling. It is saddening that this work is needed in such a way, but a joy and a privilege to support people as they try to rebuild their lives.

Today, the mobile library visits four refugee camps and three community spaces each week, bringing books and activities for people of all ages, languages, and backgrounds.

Around 7,000 people live in the camps around Athens visited by the library. These camps are often located far from cities, with limited transport and few services, making it difficult for residents to connect with the wider community.

In that context, the library becomes more than just books. It’s a place where people can read, learn languages, get legal support, meet others, and so much more in a way that they are recognised as individuals not just numbers.

What Your Donation Can Do

ECHO is a small organisation, and relatively modest donations can make a really big difference. Here’s what your donation could go towards:

• £12 - a new Arabic or Farsi book to add to our library

• £25 - the art materials for two children's sessions

• £38 - our printing costs - language resources etc - for one week

• £100 - replacement strings for the guitar, new chess sets, puzzles and games for 1 year.

• £200 - gets us to and from all our sessions for one month (diesel)

• £380 - insures the mobile library for one year.

• £550 - is the monthly stipend for one of our 2 long-term coordinators

• £1500 - is our annual budget for buying new books for the library

And for grander aspirations:

• £20,000 buys ECHO a new library van when our current one breaks down beyond repair (it almost did in 2025).

• £40,000 runs the entire library project for one year, with even more to spend on books, a living wage for our coordinators.

Thank you so much for any support you are able to give and follow along for updates on blisters and questionable decisions in the early hours of the morning.