24th April 2022

On the weekend of 23/24 April, four women from Mid Sussex travelled to France in a collaboration between the charity Care4Calais, the constituency Labour Party and generous local residents to take essential supplies for hundreds of refugees trying to survive in and around Calais. Led by Sue Jex, Chair of the Care4Calais Trustees, friends Caroline Demetriades, Susie Nicholson, and Linda Gregory saw first-hand the enormously important work carried out by the Care4Calais team in support of refugees from around the world, including Syria, Afghanistan, Sudan and most recently the women and children from Ukraine who are housed in hostels until their visa applications can be processed.

Working on the ground from their depot which stores donations of food, clothing, tents, bedding, toiletries and many other essential items, the Care4Calais team of mainly volunteers prepares life-saving packages for refugees across Calais and the surrounding area. Our little group from Mid Sussex was welcomed into the team and played an active role in checking the viability of tents, putting together packages that included sleeping bags, clothing and vital phone sim cards, and joining in with the activities at distribution points.

‘Since the main refugee sites have been destroyed in Calais and Dunkirk, these distribution points provide a vital hub for many refugees, who have almost nothing apart from the clothes they are wearing.’ says Sue Jex, ‘When our vans arrive from the Care4Calais depot, we create a source of essential supplies, food and hot drinks, along with phone-charging stations, and even help with bicycle maintenance and clothing repairs.

‘The problem is that claiming asylum presents a legal anomaly. Asylum is a legal right, but to claim it you have to be physically present in the country and there is no legal way to get to the UK for most refugees. That’s why Care4Calais campaigns for ‘safe and legal’ routes: they simply don’t exist for most refugees, which in turn is why so many are caught in a cycle of destitution which may last for years or even for a lifetime’.