Swallows was set up in Sweden in 1959. The organisation’s head office is in Lund, in the south of Sweden, but it has been working in India since 1962 and in Bangladesh since 1973. Swallows Lund – Svalorna Ib is a group of volunteers that carry out the usual work of Emmaus communities: collecting, sorting, repairing and selling goods at low prices at their second-hand shop in the centre of Lund.
The group uses the income from this activity to support projects in Asia and runs environmental awareness-raising there. Once they have been trained, the volunteers organise events with the local population to show them how to reduce their carbon footprint. With the ‘Goodbye plastic bags’ campaign, Swallows Lund – Svalorna Ib also campaigns for the use of paper and cloth bags. Lastly, the group organises meetings for members of the Swallows groups in the three countries (Sweden, India and Bangladesh) and the general public.
