Outreach on tour
By Jessica Glassock, Outreach Officer at Make Happen
I recently returned from volunteering with a charity called Care4Calais who support refugees living in and around Calais in incredibly difficult conditions. A typical day volunteering starts with a briefing in the morning from one of the team leaders. You then choose a job in the morning that you would like to do in the warehouse, and spend the rest of the morning doing this in small groups. Tasks include sorting donations, doing quality checks on shoes to be distributed, cooking lunch for the volunteers, preparing services for the afternoon and many more. At lunch time all the volunteers come together for lunch, followed by another briefing ahead of the afternoon going out to site.
In the afternoon we visit a site to do a distribution and run services for the community living there. Often distributions will be of essential clothing items, as well as other important items such as hygiene packs. Once the distribution is complete the services will be run for the rest of the afternoon, and these include an English station, games, hot drinks, hair cutting facilities as well as many other services. The services Care4Calais provide are vital for those living in Calais, and the afternoon sessions can offer a much needed distraction from their current reality.
Whenever I volunteer in Calais I always come away feeling so grateful to have met and spoken to the refugees that Care4Calais support. They are the most welcoming, kind people and have the most resilience of anyone I have ever met. The people you meet in Calais are people who have dreams and hopes for the future, just the same as we all do. They are some of the most inspiring people you could meet.
Care4Calais are an amazing charity that provide essential aid to those living in Calais, as well as the UK. They are the only mass distributor of clothes in Calais, and this means that they are able to provide clothing on a large scale to those who need it. The charity are always in need of donations, so if you would like to contribute you can do so via their website either through making a monetary donation or donating essential items.
If you would like to find out more about volunteering with Care4Calais or donating to this great cause, follow this link: Care4Calais | Refugee Charity | Fundraise Donate Volunteer