First impressions of volunteering with Help Refugees

As explained in my last post, just because the government dispersed the people from ‘the jungle’, it does not mean the problem has gone away - there are still people who need assistance. There are roughly 1700 people (numbers are quite hard to document) sleeping rough in the area of Calais and Dunkirk – they face consistent police intimidation, cold and wet conditions, continual exhaustion and a lack of basic human needs. After my research into this, as well as an ongoing attempt to figure out the confusing period of life that is post-graduation, this seemed like the perfect time to get involved with Help Refugees. No real commitments to hold me back, it seemed like a no brainer.

I was a little apprehensive about asking for donations from local people – but I was so pleasantly overwhelmed by the love people showed. I sent the Calais urgent needs list to those interested and ended up with so many amazing items to take. At one point I wasn’t even sure I’d be able to take them in one trip! Lots of warm coats and waterproofs, trainers, tents and toiletries; all vacuum packed and loaded into my little car.

After an embarrassing few stalls on route due to the weight of all the donations, it was a relief to arrive in Calais. My first impressions of the warehouse (run by L’Auberge des Migrants but used by lots of different refugee charities) was that it was amazingly chaotic. Everyone walking around, managing beautifully to both look like they’re on a super focused mission but with time to share smiles and conversations with everyone they pass. It was actually a little daunting – I’d arrived in the afternoon to drop the donations off, however first thing in the morning was the daily briefing and intro for newbies so I wasn’t put to use straight away.

After my first morning briefing things became a lot clearer - though very flexible and fluid, there are quite defined roles: the kitchen (Refugee Community Kitchen), the wood yard, the school bus, sorting in the warehouse and distributing items (as well as lots of other things going on in the background that I’m yet to discover). I’ve been sorting donations so far – mostly blankets, sleeping bags and men’s clothing. To begin with the warehouse seems like a crazy space of shelves and boxes, but delve a little deeper and you find an intricate system of sorting, organising, checking, double-checking and triple-checking items, all ready to distribute to the hundreds of migrants in the surrounding area. It’s been amazing to be able to sort through the donations given generously to me from people at home, and I hope to get the opportunity to be involved in the distribution of some of these items!

The huge pile of ‘secondary blankets’ - blankets that aren’t quite large enough to cover a fully-grown adult; they’re either given to children, used in emergencies, or sewn together to make larger ones

The first stages of jumper sorting: into sizes, type and thickness

When I’m home in a couple of weeks I plan to do a second post to reflect on my experiences overall - but for now I’m getting stuck in and embracing all the craziness that is the Help Refugees warehouse.

Humanitarian Girl x