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For week 2 of our God’s People Series, we were joined by Ged and Tia from the volunteer-run refugee charity Care4Calais at our Justice Brunch!
Care4Calais was established in 2015, the charity works mostly in France and Belgium providing immediate support and care to the vital needs of refugees. These refugees have been forced to live in dire conditions after fleeing their own countries due to conflict or persecution. They also work closer to home across the midlands and wider UK helping asylum-seekers settle into the country and receive the advice/services they need.
Overseas:
Tia spoke to us directly from a warehouse based in Calais where she is currently volunteering. The Jungle refugee camp in Calais was destroyed in 2016 and a lot of people assumed that the refugee issues would go away, however Tia explained that is not the case at all. The charity sees roughly between 600-1000 people in Calais and 300-500 in Dunkirk throughout the year.
In France the charity focuses on the distribution of resources to provide for people’s basic needs: clothing, food parcels and tents.
They see a range of nationalities including Iranian, Sudanese, Afghanise, Syrian and Turkish. It is important to cover the reason why these people are living in such dire conditions: they have been forced to flee their own country because of conflict or persecution and therefor have no choice.
There is also currently no safe or legal way to currently get to the UK and the French police forces can be quite hostile towards them. Frequently police carry out evictions every few days where they remove any unoccupied tents to force people to move on. They take away tents and sleeping bags which leaves the refugees with nothing again, so the charity continually has to find new supplies to give them shelter again – this is especially awful in the winter when it is wet and cold.
Every morning the volunteers work in the warehouses; sorting through all the donations they’ve received, buying food supplies and putting together food packs. Then in the afternoon they travel to at least one site where they distribute a specific item each day (e.g. coats) and also offer services like charging phones, hairdressing, sewing and bike repairs. One of the things they work really hard to do is not just give the refugees what they need, but show them care and build relationships, which is so important because the situation they are in is so dehumanizing.
Especially at the moment with Covid-19, there is a particular focus on providing healthcare and clean water to these refugees. Care4Calais is not the only organisation working out there: a first aid team called FAST, The Red Cross and Doctors of the world all offer support too.
A lot of refugees who have come from countries in conflict often have quite serious injuries as a result, or, like anyone else would, develop medical conditions that require long term care. However, unfortunately at the moment it is very difficult for them to get any long-term medical support because they are unsure how long they are going to be in the area for and don’t have the money to afford transport to all their appointments.
Another big issue they face is limited access to running water. Last summer, there was a site in Calais that had only one tap of clean water for about 1000 refugees. This situation has improved slightly now, but for many refugees it is still hard to come by.
Closer to Home:
Meanwhile, here in the UK, Care4Calais has just recently started working with refugees arriving in the country. Our second speaker, Ged, is a retired police officer and the lead volunteer/coordinator for the West Midlands. He explained that lots of asylum seekers arriving here only come with the clothes on their back; they haven’t got proper shoes, coats and no idea how to register for simple things like the GP, schools and solicitors.
So Care4Calais steps in to provide these people with the support they need and help them settle.
Ged stated that the most important aim for them is to help asylum seekers feel safe. They have often come from areas where conflict has made living situations uncertain and/or they have been travelling so long that they have forgotten what it is to not constantly be on edge.
The UK feels very different to their own culture and establishing themselves in a new country can be very difficult alone. But with the help of Care4Calais this is made so much easier; they give these asylum seekers a voice and a community to fall back on.
So…How Can We Help?
Get Involved: Care4Calais needs volunteers!
- Ged emphasised how here in the UK, giving up as little as a couple of hours a month would make a massive impact on asylum seeker’s lives and wellbeing.
- Alternatively, you can volunteer in Calais for two weeks or more. The process for getting there at the moment is a bit more time consuming due to the pandemic but volunteers are still greatly needed.
You can join one of their Facebook Volunteer Groups or email annie@care4calais.org to find out more and register.
Donate: As refugees have often travelled so far, they come with very few possessions. Care4Calais is therefore always looking for donations of coats, tents, good quality shoes and so on to provide better comfort. It won’t change their lives, but proper shelter and clothing is always a start.
Pray: Care4Calais may not be a Christian charity but we can still lift them up to God and pray for protection and love over the volunteers and the refugees they support. Check out our Instagram for some prayer points to help you get started.
Still want to know more?
Have a look at their Facebook page Care4Calais or their website for stories of the work they do and even more ways to get involved.
We were so inspired by Ged and Tia’s experiences that Just Love Brum are planning to get involved with volunteering as a group. So watch this space for more information!
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