Manchester Aid to Kosovo is a charity based in the UK which supports recovery and development in Kosovo.
Our mission is to relieve poverty sickness and distress by championing the community we work in to thrive, be more robust, inclusive and to tackle the issues that matter to it.
We are all volunteers many of whom work 365 days a year to help that vision become a reality.
Since we first set up shop 16 years ago, we’ve been doing several main things:
Heritage – We have recorded the history of the Kosovar community in Manchester with the support of the Heritage Lottery Fund.
Children’s work – We support children and young people in the UK and Kosovo.
Education – We develop programmes and partnerships to improve education. We run a summer school. We build IT suites in schools in Podujeva.
Recreation – We have created the Manchester Peace Park in Podujeva, Kosovo.
Art and Music – MaK works with musicians and artists in Kosovo and the UK.
Sport – MaK works for the development of sport in Kosovo.
Justice and human rights – We support people in their struggle for equality, peace and justice and raise awareness of the issues that we care most about.
Humanitarian Aid – MaK formed in response to the Kosovo humanitarian crisis in 1999. We collected and distribute food, clothes, medical aid and more recently, educational equipment, as needed. Read paramedic Paul Guest’s 1999 convoy diary here.
We support families in South Manchester who were evacuated to the UK from Kosovo during the war. We respond to changing needs in Kosovo and work increasingly in education, particularly in the Municipality of Podujevë. We supply IT equipment to schools and we have launched a medical appeal.
Women’s business initiative – In october 2011 MaK launched Sister Stitch our new embroidery project. We want to support women who have completed business training with Women for Women. MaK aims to develop work for sale outside Kosova to provide extra income for the women of Podujeva. Led by designer Arja Suddens and artist/embroiderer Chloe Hamill and co-ordinated by Erina Sheholli, Sister Stitch will develop the fine embroidery skills of the women of Kosova. Please contact MaK if you are interested in sales or if you can support the initiative in any way.
To achieve the greatest impact, we work on three interlinking fronts
