Meet Caroline and Kitty, the homework helpers of Henley!

One thing we love about our volunteers is the way they recognise the needs of individual refugees, and then use their own talents to respond.

That happened in Henley On Thames with this brilliant mum and daughter team of Caroline and Kitty.

After signing up they took a bit of time to get to know what volunteering with Care4calais is all about, and to think about how they could best help.

Kitty had just finished her GCSEs, and so school and homework had been a big part of her life for quite a while. She pointed out that starting a new school was an extremely daunting experience for any child, let alone for a refugee who needs to get to grips with a new educational system, and learn a new language.

As they talked about this, they came up with the amazing idea of starting a homework club at the hotel where they help the refugees they help to support.

They take their laptops along so that children can access their online homework, they share Biff and Chip reading books, and brushed up their German grammar so they could explain it to their new Spanish-speaking friends! 

The volunteer-run homework clubs like Caroline and Kitty’s are very helpful to refugee families. In one of the refugee hotels we support 93 children live and eat in a single room with their parents, there is no garden, no dining room and no play space and so little activities like this take on great importance. Homework club is extremely popular there.

If you could help run a club like this please consider volunteering with us. To volunteer or donate, go to care4calais.org/get-involved.