Looking back on the past year, it’s staggering to see how far we’ve come. For a group with such humble beginnings, we now have over 64,000 members and have delivered over 30,000 top-ups. That’s a huge achievement for an organisation that relies solely on donations from the public.

As we launch our new website today, we thought it would be nice to reflect on how we’ve grown in the past year. None of this would have been possible without your help, and we are thankful every day for the kind, generous, and supportive community that has grown up around us.

Some of our favourite achievements of 2017 are:

We have partnered with some brilliant organisations, such as Ewala and Senditoo, who are committed to helping us to revolutionise the way that we deliver our service
We have expanded our service to Africa and Asia, providing top ups to vulnerable refugees in places like Kenya and Indonesia
We have professionalised our operation, with the introduction of a Management Committee and formal policies and procedures
Our outreach in the media has expanded – even reaching Spanish speakers by way of Playground’s brilliant videos about our work
Our admin team has grown in size, with admins from countries such as Afghanistan, Australia, Brazil, Pakistan, Syria, and the United Kingdom all coming together to help refugees stay connected

“For us, the Syrians, the most important thing in this group is that they have returned to us hope that on the surface of this planet there is still a human like you doing good at no charge. We are astonished and amazed at your humanity. Thank you.”

— Ibrahim

Looking to the future

We have big plans for the upcoming year, and we need your help to make this a reality. Our focuses will be:

Growth and expansion – we want to continue to grow our membership so that we can reach refugees across the world. Our goal is to hit 100,000 members by the end of next year and pass 50,000 top ups
Improve our operation – we will register with the Charities Commission so that we can apply for external funding and employ the necessary staff to keep our organisation growing
Advocate louder – we will improve our presence in the media through targeted campaigning, and will use our platform to provide refugees with a voice
Embrace technology – we will continue to work with our vendors to design a system that will help deliver a faster and sleeker service

How you can help

We cannot do any of this without you. We want to use our website to help refugees tell their stories, to advocate for refugee rights, and to raise awareness of the perilous situations so many people are facing. We hope that you will continue to support us in our mission, and look forward to working with you to make this a reality.

We would love to hear your feedback on our website, so if you have any suggestions or comments, please do get in touch.

Here's to an even bigger 2018!

With love,

The Phone Credit for Refugees Team