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 …
Maintaining dignity in the most difficult circumstances
This lovely message was from two older gentleman that we delivered food to last night. They were the final people in the line for food at our Calais distribution, and just as we reached them, the food ran out. They had been queuing for some time – the procedure is complex as people need to maintain at least a metre distance from each other and we get over 300 people at each distribution; it takes at least a couple of hours. And it’s extremely hard to manage with just seven volunteers and high tension due to food shortages. These two …
A COVID-19 humanitarian disaster is imminent among refugees
Two cases of COVID-19 have been confirmed among refugees in Calais, and there is imminent danger of a humanitarian disaster. Care4Calais urges the French authorities to step in and provide somewhere for migrants to stay, where they can practice social distancing, self-isolation and safe hand-washing Care4Calais founder Clare Moseley said: “Based on the rates of transmission seen elsewhere, in four weeks, there could be more than 300 cases.” …
Online crochet workshops offer a lesson in human empathy
Charlie Pearson visited refugee camps in Calais in 2016, and returned again in January this year. She has now launched a new project to crochet hats not just for the benefit of the people who will wear them, but for the wellbeing of those who are stuck in isolation because of the coronavirus. She has even roped in her grandparents – both in their 80s and in self-isolation – to make pompoms! After the first visit she raised £1800 for refugees charities, but also realised there was a need to help people at home make a connection with the refugees. …
