Help the Children, a Facebook group set up nearly four years ago to collect clothes and other necessities for migrant mothers and children at Ħal Far, is now working to collect funds for children arriving at Lesbos, Greece.

About 200 children have been arriving on the Greek island every day and the group is aiming to raise €7,000 to be used for the purchase of clothing.

“Since no migrants are reaching Malta at present, but there is a very big crisis in the rest of Europe, we have decided to continue using our energy to help migrant children elsewhere,” said Joanna Muscat, who helps run Help the Children.

The group will be forwarding any donations to the Dutch foundation Stichting Bootvluchteling, who had a few years ago helped provide migrants in Malta with nappies, wipes and other toiletries. The foundation will also be providing water and medical care.

“Within a few days of making the announcement that we will be collecting donations for the children in Greece, we collected some €1,000 which we have already sent to Stichting Bootvluchteling,” she said.

The €7,000 target would provide enough clothing for all the children who arrive in Lesbos for a week, Ms Muscat said.

The group decided it would be better to send money and not goods, to avoid having to pay extra for shipping costs. In this way, the whole amount collected could be used to buy clothing.

Donations are being submitted to the account Help the Children of Ħal Far or through the Facebook group.