Stories from Napier Barracks: ‘walks like this are a lifeline’

‘Yesterday, we had a wonderful walk from Napier barracks to the Harbour in Folkestone. Our volunteers and several men from Eritrea, Iran, Iraq and Turkey, warmed up in the old station with hot barley soup from DrLegumes.

For those remaining at Napier, every day is the same at the barracks. There are no organised activities, and there are no NGOs working on-site at the moment, so walks like this are a lifeline for the men. A chance to chat, learn English, raise any concerns they have about their situation, but more importantly, just to laugh with friendly company and enjoy a small slice of normality.

We made enough soup for everyone at the barracks, but we knew many would not come out today. We dropped off the remaining soup portions to the camp and the men collected them from the gate. One of the men I spoke to later, who didn’t make it to the walk, said the soup was so good and reminded him of the soup his mother used to make for him in Eritrea.

We also gave out two sets of hair clippers, nail clippers for all the men in the camp, and power banks, as requested, all funded through your generous donations to our fundraiser for the Napier residents.’ – Sally, Care4Calais (U.K.) volunteer

To support our work, go to Care4Calais.org/donate.