Almost 1000 refugees rescued from the Channel this month
Early this morning we were out a food distribution in Calais when I noticed a group of Sudanese refugees looking very subdued and downcast. I was a bit worried about them, so decided to see if everything was ok. As I got closer, I realised that all their clothes were wet. Not just caught-in-the-rain wet, they looked as if they’d been completely soaked from head to foot. When I asked what had happened to them, they explained there had been “a problem with the boat” and made plunging signs with their hands. I understood; they had experienced something that has …
Pauline’s Calais diary – part one
A couple of days ago, we shared a brief story about Pauline, a retired teacher and grandmother. She’s been volunteering in France with Care4Calais for the last three weeks. Here is the first of several beautiful and heart-rending extracts from her Calais diary. April 1, 2020 — After preparing hot drinks and food packs in the morning, I left to take K* to the hospital for his appointment. The wound on his hand had festered and the clinic asked him to return after 24 hours. When I got to the camp, I couldn’t find him, but he was there, curled up …
Meet Mohammed, who is building a new life
Mohammed is a gently-spoken new dad, who dreams of opening his own hairdressing salon. The 24-year-old left Iraq just over two years ago, when his village was destroyed by war. He and his entire family – his parents and eight brothers and sisters – headed for Turkey, but the others were caught and deported back to Iraq. Mohammed carried on alone. “I’m from a village, between Mosul and Erbil. Our village was totally destroyed to the ground because they say it’s a war place. “That time when my family was arrested, that was the worst time in my life. I …
Watch: A morning in the life of our team
We nailed it this morning! 50 family food packs made up by 11am. Our amazing team in Calais are working super hard to keep people fed. Let’s see what tomorrow brings! Please support our urgent appeal to see people through this terrible time. …
Covid-19 survey: Food and shelter fears worse than ever
Over the last two weeks we surveyed 150 refugees across Calais and Dunkirk to gather data on the impacts of Covid-19. We want to assess both our own response and most-needed actions. The results are interesting. Almost half (48%) of those we talked to have only been in Calais for three months or less. This is a reminder of how transitory the population is – particularly given that for the last month there have been rigid travel restrictions in France and the rate of new arrivals has dropped. Only 14 people told us that Coronavirus was a primary concern for …
Superstar companies donate thousands of hand sanitisers to Calais
We have the most amazing news! Last week we posted a heartrending story: an Iranian refugee asked one of our team in Calais if we could distribute hand sanitiser. “We need it,” he said. “There is sickness and we can’t wash our hands.” All she could do was hand over the one bottle she had for her personal use. The refugees don’t have access to running water to wash their hands, but with prices so high we can’t afford to buy sufficient quantities to distribute – it’s heartbreaking. Since then something wonderful has happened. THREE separate companies saw our post …
Stuck at home? Use your talents to help refugees
People are doing amazing things to raise money for refugees during this desperate time. Even if you are in isolation, there is so much you can do to use your talents to support our emergency fundraising appeal here. Cat Emberton has been making jewellery professionally in Camden for seven years. She organised an online sale via her Instagram account – Gypsy Silver – and sold some of her personal jewellery and some items she had made herself at discounted prices. The sale took place yesterday and raised an amazing £1475 in just one hour. Other donations that came in after …
Volunteers left helpless as refugees yearn for the basics
Today a quiet Iranian man approached me. He asked if we could distribute hand sanitiser. I sighed thinking of the evenings spent writing to companies begging for donations of sanitiser, but had to explain that we don’t have enough. It’s just too expensive to buy right now. He innocently said: “But we need it – there is sickness and we can’t wash our hands.” I felt so guilty because I was wearing gloves and would be washing my hands many times that day. The inequality was a gulf between us. ‘Helpless’ is an understatement for how I feel right now. …
‘This has changed me’: Outgoing volunteer shares her story
Heidi has been with us in Calais for just over two weeks. The theatre-maker from Liverpool was among the first group of workers in the UK to have their work closed last month and she decided to go to Calais immediately. Before she left, she told us about her experience. “I work in the Everyman and the Philharmonic theatres in Liverpool, and they had to close because of the rule about mass gatherings. “I was planning to come out anyway. I’d booked a week, and then all this stuff kicked off, and my job closed, and I thought I can …
Man badly burnt by French police CS gas attack
I’ve seen a lot in in Calais over the last four and a half years, but yesterday something happened that took me back to the worst of 2015/16. As many services have shut down, we often get asked to take people to hospital. It’s hard as we are a small team and busy, but had to help a young man who had been sprayed in the face with CS gas by the police. This has become common in Calais, but as I got closer I could see, rather than the red eyes and puffy face I expected, serious burns covering …
