Collective Aid is built on the unwavering dedication of volunteers and professionals from around the world, united by a shared purpose: to stand in solidarity and respect with people living on the move across Europe.
Our lasting mission is to observe and act. This means we have made a commitment to clearly identify the gaps left by other actors and to respond with precision and care. Guided by high standards of safeguarding, professionalism, and adaptability, we listen to the shifting needs of those we serve, shaping solutions that are as sustainable as they are necessary.
Every step we take is driven by collaboration and solidarity — not just as guiding ideals, but as necessary practices that ensure every person has a voice in their own story.
Our Values
Since we were founded, we have been an organisation dedicated to facing challenges together as a team, prioritising ethical responsibility, precision and impartiality in all that we do. Our teams therefore work to embody the values of:
Impartiality, Integrity, and Precision: We strive to deliver aid without bias, basing our efforts on compassion and respect for each individual’s distinct circumstances. Our services adapt to the specific needs of those we serve, filling gaps and responding to changing circumstances with flexibility.
Sensitivity, Inclusivity and Dignity: Our work is rooted in understanding and respecting the diverse backgrounds of those we support and work with. Across all levels of the organisation, we expect our teams to advance dignity and respect with regards to the people we meet in the course of our work.
Professional and Ethical Standards: Our teams are trained to uphold clear standards of safeguarding and professionalism, essential to the ethical operation of any humanitarian organisation. Trust, respect, transparency, and integrity underpin the relationships between all of our programs, projects, and partners.
Background
Founded in 2017 as “BelgrAid,” Collective Aid was established to address the evolving needs of refugees and migrants in Serbia. Initially responding to the humanitarian crisis in Belgrade by distributing meals and essential supplies, we quickly grew to become a trusted source of support for those in transit. Today, we have expanded our efforts across Europe, working in Bosnia & Herzegovina, France, and Greece.
Serbia Programme
In March 2017 , the BelgrAID warehouse kitchen was started in Belgrade, the capital city of Serbia, by volunteers from Greece. BelgrAID made food and did ad hoc distros in Belgrade Barracks. By November 2017 Obrenovac was started after the Belgrade Barracks were becoming an unfeasible place for people on the move to gather. Obrenovac, which was named the ‘Azadi centre’, provided lunches and activities, cinema nights etc. as well as some ad hoc aid distros.
In November 2020 , the Belgrade Water, Sanitation and Hygiene centre (WASH) was opened and this became the focus of the project. The Azadi centre was closed and the Belgrade project became oriented towards providing WASH and outreach in the city.
Between July and August 2017 the Serbia programme expanded and opened the project in Subotica, a city in the North that borders Hungary. The NGO called Fresh Response had been running the project and handed over to BelgrAID.
In part of 2018, the shower service at Subotica had to stop, but this was restarted in 2019 . In the period between 2020 to mid-2021 , a big priority for the project was developing the WASH provision. In 2021 the project also received shower trucks from Medecins Sans Frontieres and began distributing food. Distributions thereafter have provided Non Food Items (NFI), WASH and food. Between 2022 and 2023 the Subotica project saw the highest concentration of people on the move every month that Collective Aid has ever seen, making the project extremely large.
This came to an end following developments in Serbia at the end of 2023 , where policing operations and closures of informal settlements reshaped the migration routes in the country. We made the decision to down-scale our project in Serbia by focussing operations in Subotica and using our remaining resources to additionally address the needs of people on the move in Bulgaria. This allows us to provide NFI and WASH services directly or supply partner organisations on a flexible basis following changing needs throughout Serbia. The project increasingly focuses on advocacy in Serbia and has begun visiting Bulgaria to gather information, conduct needs assessments for advocacy and with the aim of establishing a permanent field project in the country.
Bosnia & Herzegovina Programme
In August 2018 , the organisation began to examine the possibility of a Bosnia & Herzegovina programme and started a project in Sarajevo, the capital city of Bosnia & Herzegovina. The organisation began to send volunteers there in September 2018 . The Sarajevo project initially started as a street kitchen. By November 2018 the project had also started a camp kitchen called Usivak kitchen. Until mid 2019 BelgrAID ran in both the street kitchen and the camp kitchen in Sarajevo alongside Aid Brigade and BAB. BASIS did NFI distributions and provided showers. CADUS provided medical aid.
In mid-2019 the Sarajevo project decided to stop running the Usivak kitchen. The project was handed over to local Bosnians who still use our recipes. Anecdotally, the guys in camp say food is still good but the contractors don't smile at them any more! Since then, the Sarajevo project primarily runs mobile NFI distributions.
In summer 2020 , the Sarajevo project began the glasses project in tandem with an optician in the city. This project only runs for a couple months at time, but whenever funding allows this is also a service that the Sarajevo project provides.
France Programme
In May of 2019 Choose Love asked Collective Aid to take over their warehouse and operations in Calais, a city in the far North of France that is the closest point of France to the UK. When Collective Aid took over, the project was providing NFI to the main camps in the Calais, Dunkirk and Grande Synthe areas from the Auberge des Migrants warehouse with the other Auberge des Migrants organisations. In November 2019, the project moved to the ‘New Warehouse’, where they worked with Project Play and Refugee Women’s Centre relatively closely.
In April 2020 the project took on some of the responsibilities that other organisations had stopped providing due to COVID19 related complications, this was when the project provided phone charging and water at distributions.
In June 2021 the project along with the majority of other projects in the Calais area lost a donor that had been providing the vast majority of the funding and was also evicted from volunteer housing. Later that summer the project was also asked to move out of the warehouse. The project moved back to the Auberge des Migrants warehouse in November 2021. The project implemented a tent distribution system (known as tent drops) based on referrals from partner organisations. This system, with some modifications, continues to this day.
In March 2023 the project opened a WASH Centre in the centre of the city. The project was the first widely available WASH provision ever provided in the Calais area. The expansion represented a huge development for the Calais programme overall.
In March 2024 the clothes distribution project ended due to a lack of funding and we refocused our remaining funds to continue the WASH and tent distributions as these gaps are not covered by other organisations. In the same month the Calais Town Hall ordered the WASH centre to close.
Despite a months long fight against this decision in which we implemented a mobile laundry service, this order ultimately created to much strain on our capacities to continue services and in Winter of 2024 we paused our operation in Calais. We decided to pause in order to ensure partner organisations received the resources and support they needed to continue providing tent distributions over the winter, and now that we have successfully handed over operations we are currently assessing where service gaps exist that would justify reopening of operations in Calais.
Greece Programme
In Spring 2024 Collective Aid was invited to take over a NFI free shop project from another organisation on Lesvos. Given the worsening situation on the island and our experience providing adaptive NFI services, we decided to redirect a portion of our Serbia budget to this new project. We are currently in the process of opening the project.
International Programme
From the beginning of 2022 the Executive Director began to develop a team of international managers that would come to be called the International Programme. This team initially consisted of the Fundraising and Grants Manager and the Strategy & Impact Manager, who existed to facilitate and support the development of the country programmes and also to coordinate the strategy of the organisation overall. In April 2023, the programme hired an Advocacy and Communications Manager and in October 2023, the Calais Human Resources Coordinator took over the volunteer recruitment and welfare responsibilities for the Balkan projects, eventually becoming a member of the international programme as the Human Resources manager. In March 2024, the programme incorporated their newest position and welcomed the Donations Coordinator, who works on material donations and warehouse management for all projects.
It is difficult to tell what the future of border policy in Europe looks like. We are navigating an ever-changing political landscape and we are facing an unprecedented number of human rights concerns with each passing year. Collective Aid will continue to support displaced people across Europe as long as there is need for immediate humanitarian services and systemic advocacy.
Our Guiding Principles
1. Service Users Guide Our Mission
Needs define our actions and our voice. The dignity, autonomy, and well-being of our users guide every decision and message. We amplify their voices with honesty and respect, rejecting sensationalism to inspire meaningful change. Safeguarding this principle is more than a matter of protocol—it is a matter of culture that ensures our advocacy and actions authentically reflect those we serve.
2. Respect as the Cornerstone
Respect drives our internal culture and external relationships. We honour the potential and dignity of all individuals—team members, service users, and partners. Discrimination or disrespect is not tolerated, as respect fuels collaboration, trust, and innovation.
3. Solve First
Immediate challenges require decisive action, so every team member is empowered to solve problems using their expertise and experience. Gaps in processes are approached as opportunities for future refinement, which is why we use strategic planning to guide us throughout the year - but not as a substitute for urgent action. Leaders in Collective Aid prioritise trust, adaptability and precision as necessary principles to meet needs.
4. Urgency with Composure
Acting decisively and with purpose is vital to drive positive impact. Although in order to balance immediate needs with long-term sustainability, we must ensure even the most urgent decision uphold our standards of quality and dignity. Focus and composure under pressure ensure we remain effective in uncertain moments.
5. Continuous Learning
From safeguarding to service delivery, we are constantly working to create better standards through continuous feedback and training. Integrity and innovation are non-negotiable cornerstones of transparency, trust, and sustainable impact. Challenges drive our learning and innovative responses keep us prepared to meet evolving needs. This commitment to improvement keeps us aligned with changing environments while building expertise that elevates our entire sector.
6. Stewardship
We must be worthy of the trust of our service users, team members and donors. This requires that we honour the role we have and the resources entrusted to us by operating mindfully, efficiently and transparently. Financial, human, and material decisions reflect our commitment to impact and accountability, and we should constantly be working to foster greater confidence from our service users, team members and donors.
7. Proactive Risk Ownership
Risk management is a shared responsibility which means every team member is expected to identify and mitigate risks early, using evidence-based approaches to stay ahead of crises. Risk mitigation is a foundational stone of safeguarding and respect, meaning it is vital to ensure continuity and dignity in our services and principles.
8. One Mission, One Team
Collaboration is non negotiable. Unity and shared purpose are critical to achieving our goals and personal conflicts or egos must never hinder progress. Team members are empowered to act within their expertise, resolving disagreements constructively to maintain strong partnerships and amplify our impact.
9. Proactive Improvement
Continuous feedback, training, and adaptation are central to our culture. Challenges are opportunities for growth, ensuring we stay innovative, impactful, and prepared to meet evolving needs. Our commitment to improvement is what keeps us aligned with humanitarian sector standards and changing environments.
10. Volunteers are one of our greatest strengths.
The dedication and diverse skills volunteers bring are essential resources that amplify our mission's reach. Every offer of support represents an opportunity to expand our capacity and enrich our work. Where capacity and circumstances allow, we actively welcome new volunteers, matching their skills to meaningful impact.
Get in touch with us
Have any questions? Would like to get more details on our work, the projects we have or how we make it all happen? Send us an email!
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