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 …
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 …
Emergency appeal for Calais – please share
This is today’s shopping list. Each week, to feed every site in Calais and Dunkirk, we need to make 330 food parcels at a cost of approximately €4,450. This is incredibly hard to sustain, but right now we have no choice. We can no longer buy in bulk from the UK and we are clearing shelves at three Lidls in Calais every other day. Our volunteers are working long hours to make up hundreds of nutritious packs each morning. Refugees and migrants in Dunkirk and Calais are under threat from coronavirus (COVID-19) and also from lack of food. Please support …
Volunteer Charlotte finds hope and humanity in Calais crisis
Charlotte is one of the amazing team of volunteers still working hard at the forefront of Care4Calais’ work in northern France and Belgium. The 22-year-old from Barnsley brings huge passion and dynamism to the work. She said: “One of the biggest benefits of Care4Calais staying here is providing a sense of hope. If I was in the refugees’ situation, with no help, I would have completely lost hope. These are times when we’re supposed to rely on humanity. If you are going through a crisis and there is no-one there to help at that point – when can you rely …
Meet Pauline, a grandmother on the front line
My name is Pauline and I am a 58 year old retired teacher and grandmother currently volunteering in Calais. Refugees currently residing in Northern France and Belgium are being further marginalised due to the Covid-19 crisis. We’re seeing instances of true hunger; drinking water supplies are in jeopardy; government and charitable provision is being cut back; and the gap between the fortunate and the unfortunate has widened. Like many others, I find such disparity unacceptable and Care4Calais has given me an opportunity to act, to stay ‘on the right side of history’, and to enrich my own life with a …
