Our Story and Journey at West London Turkish Volunteers UK Charity. Be part of our journey!

West London Turkish Volunteers UK Charity based in the London Borough of Richmond started in 2015 as a way for British-Turkish communities in West London to convene. We have since grown to provide social, cultural and educational activities and services to wider communities across London. We are now looking to secure and buy our first ever community centre, dedicated to housing our range of community events and services.

Community service is at the very centre of who we are and what we do. We now comprise a small founding team and a wider network of hundreds of volunteers from across local communities in London.

Crisis Response: COVID-19 & Turkey Earthquake
We first activated our network of volunteers during the pandemic to distribute food parcels to hundreds of people across London Borough of Hounslow, identified as high risk and in need by the council itself.

Most recently, we rallied in response to the devastating earthquakes in our home country Türkiye 🇹🇷 resulting in West London Turkish Volunteers receiving, sorting and packing around 100 pallets 1500 airline cargo large boxes worth of clothing donations for people impacted by earthquakes. We partnered with Turkish Airlines to deliver all donations, all within a week of the disaster striking. We were honoured to be visited by Britain's King Charles III, who took a keen interest in our crisis response work at this time.

Education and Youth
Education and youth work is also important to us; young people often need dedicated support, particularly in more disadvantaged localities. West London Turkish Volunteers provides low-cost Turkish language and Maths classes for local children and youth. We also offer career education mentoring for young people within our networks, organising day trips to places such as the Google UK offices.

WLTV Events: West London Turkish Festival attended by around 10,000 visitors each year and a spiritual Ramadan with open iftars

We started as a social initiative, creating a space in which people could come together and connect. Our annual West London Turkish Festival bringing people from different communities together on a fun family day out with Turkish food, live music, dance, stands and more, has grown year over year. In 2022 we welcomed nearly 10,000 people from across the UK. The 6th West London Turkish Festival will take place on Sunday 9 July 2023 and you can register via Eventbrite to get your free entrance tickets.

Ramadan remains a special spiritual time for Muslim communities. WTLV also hosts iftar - meal at the breaking of the fast - every night of Ramadan. Our iftars are open to one and all, providing meals to a diverse group of guests on any given night, free of cost. This initiative is the result of the generosity of local individuals and businesses who sponsor the meals, and builds upon the sense of community and service that is so important to us.

This year, we’re looking to secure and buy our first ever community centre. We need to raise £900,000 for Phase 1 building and land purchase. We need another £1.2m for Phase 2 building purchase. Your donations will go towards providing a dedicated home to our growing range of services and initiatives and creating a vibrant and welcoming space in which diverse communities can continue to come together.

HELP BUY OUR FIRST EVER COMMUNITY CENTRE AND BE PART OF OUR JOURNEY!

Donate via Bank transfer:

Account Name: 

West London Turkish Volunteers

Account number: 28185367

Sort code: 23-05-80

Reference: communitycentre

Donate Online via our Charity Website:

Donate via GoFundMe