Meet Elizabeth, a hero changing refugee lives with tech
This is Elizabeth, a really wonderful person who has literally changed the lives of some refugees in the North East. She helps many of the refugees we support here get access to computers, which can make a huge difference to them. We always want to help when people ask us for tablets, laptops and computers, and one of our volunteers, Sarah, noticed that Elizabeth had donated some to Care4Calais. Sarah got in touch, and now we have a great relationship with a rather remarkable woman. Elizabeth runs a computer repair and assistance service, and is often asked by customers if …
In Calais, refugees help volunteers too
We were out distributing snug packs in Calais today, and with the weather getting chillier people were really happy to get these warm gloves, hats and scarves. Quite a few pulled them on straight away, and were asking what we thought of the colours. One guy with a football scarf was asking “What is Bradford City?” laughing and pretending he had to know before he could wear the scarf. Luckily we had some football fans who could put him straight, and he seemed happy! Despite the chill there was a wonderful atmosphere, with music playing and stories being told, and …
Meet Katie, our Yorkshire force of nature!
“The word I’d most associate with supporting refugees is joy. Yes, joy! “Because you see joy on the faces of people when you make them feel safe and wanted, and you feel joy at being part of a team doing good things. That’s why our Care4Calais team celebrates when things go right, and if people are hostile to us and refugees, well, when they go low, we go high. “If the far right are doing hateful things in our area, we say RIGHT! Let’s have some picnics! Let’s throw a party! Let’s do things that are filled with love! “You …
Meet Katey, our amazing lead volunteer in Croydon!
Katey has a wonderful, warm way with people, and somehow always seems to remember the names of the people she helps, even after meeting them just once. This means a lot; when she talks to refugees you can see their smiles breaking out to match hers. “As volunteers we just try to show refugees that there’s hope in the world, and they don’t have to suffer alone,” she says. “We see a ripple effect; if you someone feel better, they’ll make others around them feel happier too. And you feel amazing to see the effect.” Katey began volunteering in Calais …
Tariq’s story
Yesterday I was helping out with English classes at a distribution when I got talking to a young Afghan refugee. He was about 18, the same as me, and we were getting along well when I somehow managed to get a little cut on my finger. The boy, who I’ll call Tariq, suddenly disappeared, only to reappear a few moments later with a sticking plaster. It was such a moving thing to do – he had been through so much, but he could still notice and help with my little problem. I have only been in Calais for a week …
Ramtin’s story
Today we were distributing SIM cards to refugees in Dunkirk when I met Ramtin. He’d just arrived at the site with his wife after fleeing from Iran, and he said he was feeling like he was “in a very bad situation”. A few weeks ago he had been living a normal life as a financial manager in Iran. Then he had heard about a protest against the government, and wanted to go along, just to make his feelings known. But the police had grabbed him and put him into detention, and even though he’d been released, he knew they …
Almost 1000 refugees rescued from the Channel this month
Early this morning we were out a food distribution in Calais when I noticed a group of Sudanese refugees looking very subdued and downcast. I was a bit worried about them, so decided to see if everything was ok. As I got closer, I realised that all their clothes were wet. Not just caught-in-the-rain wet, they looked as if they’d been completely soaked from head to foot. When I asked what had happened to them, they explained there had been “a problem with the boat” and made plunging signs with their hands. I understood; they had experienced something that has …
Meet the Manchester’s amazing Afghan dressmakers
A small group of us in Manchester have been running weekly creative and wellbeing sessions for refugees in the airport hotels here. We thought they’d be opportunities for the ladies and children to have a break, chat to different people and do some light crafts-type activities as a change from their normal routine. In fact, as the sessions have developed, they have become as much of a learning experience and treat for the volunteers as the refugees, because the Afghan ladies have utterly amazed us with their sewing and creative skills. The intricacy of their sewing and embroidery really …
An incredible day of action
Yesterday was the most incredible day of action with volunteers, activists and trade unionists across the country coming together to show their opposition to the Government’s brutal Rwanda plan. Protests took place at Tolpuddle Martyrs Festival, Nottingham, Coventry , Dudley, Cambridge, Norwich, Manchester, Portsmouth, Sheffield, Leeds, York, Shrewesbury, Harlow, Tower Hamlets, Lewisham, Stoke and elsewhere, called as part of the #StopRwanda campaign, launched by the Trades Union Congress, Care4Calais and Stand Up To Racism, and backed by eleven trade unions including the PCS. This was an incredible display of what we can achieve when we come together. It was …
Care4Calais FC’s adventure at the Refugee World Cup
Refugees are often incredibly resourceful and inspiring people, and when you support them as a volunteer with Care4Calais, you can find yourself doing amazing things that you probably wouldn’t have otherwise tried. That’s how our group in Manchester came to set up a football team and enter the Refugee World Cup! It started when we began running social afternoons at a hotel housing asylum seekers in the city. We began supporting a couple of people who were struggling with their mental health, and one Sunday afternoon we decided to take along some footballs and snacks to see if that helped. …