The latest from our response

Venezuelan Relief UK has been entered onto the Register of Charities for England and Wales as a Charitable Incorporated Organisation, registered charity number 1218988.

Registration follows a detailed assessment by the Charity Commission covering our delivery model, our due diligence on our Venezuelan partner Coromoto 2020, our safeguarding arrangements, the controls that account for every box of aid from a UK collection point to the family who receives it, and our management of conflicts of interest.

For everyone who has donated goods, hosted a collection point or given their time: this changes nothing about the work, but it means that work is now governed under charity law and answerable to a regulator. Our accounts, our trustees and our registered details are a matter of public record, and can be viewed on the Register of Charities.

Our first container to Puerto Cabello is being prepared for shipment. We will report on its arrival and distribution here.

Our first air cargo consignment has not yet departed. We have taken the decision to hold it for the time being, and we want to explain why openly.

Venezuela's customs and tax authority, SENIAT, is currently going through a change of leadership. On 15 July 2026, the Gaceta Oficial de la República Bolivariana de Venezuela (Nº 43.416) published eleven administrative providences appointing new managers across the national customs network — including at the Maiqueti´a Principal Air Customs office, which is the point of entry for air freight into Venezuela. These appointments were made in an acting capacity and took effect on 16 July 2026, and were signed by a newly appointed Superintendent of SENIAT who took office on 7 July 2026.

We make no comment on Venezuelan administrative matters. But in practical terms, we would rather allow these changes to take effect and confirm current procedures with the incoming teams — and with the carriers who handle humanitarian air freight — than dispatch a consignment into a process still in transition. Aid held at an airport helps nobody. This is our own decision, taken in consultation with our partners on the ground.

Our sea freight container is not affected. Preparations for the container to Puerto Cabello continue as planned, and we will report on it separately.

Nothing has been lost and nothing has been wasted. Every donated item remains catalogued, sealed and accounted for in our tracking system, secure in our UK collection centres and warehouse. We will post a further update here as soon as we have a confirmed departure date.

Our first shipment of aid — 1,000kg — departs the UK on 17 July 2026, sent via commercial air freight. We haven't yet secured a dedicated cargo plane or a logistics partner able to offer free or heavily discounted air transport for larger quantities, so for now we're using private commercial shipping companies, with the cost covered directly by our trustees.

We've also confirmed our next, much larger shipment: a 26-tonne container, tentatively scheduled to depart by sea between 25 and 28 July 2026, in partnership with Mission & Relief Logistics, a specialist humanitarian aid logistics company. These dates depend on customs clearance and other logistics still being finalised. Sea freight of this kind typically takes 30 to 45 days to arrive.

We'll keep sharing updates here as both shipments progress.

Following weeks of informal aid collection and coordination in response to the June earthquakes, our four founding trustees adopted a formal constitution and began the process of registering with the Charity Commission for England and Wales — so donors can have full confidence in how funds and aid are governed.

In direct response to the two major earthquakes that struck Venezuela on 24–25 June 2026, our founders began collecting donated funds and aid from the UK public, drawing on personal and professional contacts on the ground in Venezuela.