In mid-January we went to The Jungle refugee camp in Calais to help build shelters with L’Auberge des Migrants and assist how ever we could. We were astounded by the amount that you generously donated (£6000+ in 15 days) and this money allowed us to travel out with vans full of much needed insulation, purchase building materials out there, replace a school building’s roof and equip the workshop with some much needed professional-grade power tools.
I will be returning soon to help with construction of camp infrastructure as necessary, currently a community kitchen, school rooms and other important basic facilities are being built by volunteers using donated money and they are in need of experienced people to help with this.
If you can support this cause in any way by donating or even sharing this campaign that would be greatly appreciated.
Shelters which we previously built with generous donations will be in need of maintenance, I aim to help with that important work also.
The simple act of being there and helping out is a boost to morale of volunteers and refugees alike and I’m happy to have the opportunity to do this and to represent the people of the Highlands who want to support efforts there and to help their fellow human beings in their hour of need.
*CAMPAIGN UPDATE*
The funding priorities in Calais and Dunkirk have changed.
The amount of donations to volunteer-run kitchens has dropped considerably since part of the Jungle camp was demolished.
There is no help from the government or from the big, established charities with feeding people.
Now that the weather has started to improve, the number of refugees arriving increases daily and the kitchens, completely reliant on donations from ordinary people like us, are struggling to cope.
In light of this, I’ve decided to contribute some funds from this campaign to helping the kitchen volunteers to buy essential food supplies and to help maintain the Calais Kitchen building.
The stress on these kitchens and volunteers is huge, ongoing support is essential to give people some basic nutrition at least.
I’ve included links below to the kitchens operating on donations in Calais and Dunkirk. Follow the links for more information on the work that is being done and how the situation is evolving.
Thanks for all your support!
https://www.facebook.com/Kitchenincalais/
https://www.facebook.com/calaiskitchens/
https://www.facebook.com/groups/RefugeeCommunityKitchen/
Thank You for reading,
Please share far and wide!