NEWS & BLOG

Leaving Dover, you can see the coast of Calais, which seems very close, yet the Channel is such a busy shipping lane. I can see how easy it must look to get across to the UK.

The suburbs of Calais are a mass of warehouses, and hangers. On our first day we went to one of these, which houses Care4Calais, necessarily anonymous. The morning was spent putting hygiene packs together and checking sleeping bags and blankets for broken zips, holes and stains. I was struck by how well organised and labelled everything was, how precise our instructions were, and therefore how much we were able to achieve in a short space of time.

In the afternoon, we went out to a site on the edge of Calais, a deserted car parking area, surrounded by typical coastal scrubland, sand, marram grass and bushes. As we appeared so did some asylum-seeking people – mainly men and two women, from Sudan, Eritrea and Ethiopia. We had all chosen to do a variety of jobs, which included making tea and coffee, bicycle repair, games, etc.

Two of us were supervising hairdressing. There was a suitcase with clippers, combs, razor blades and cleaning materials, with which the men cut each other’s hair. We were touched to see how much care they took in doing so, each haircut taking about 30 minutes. Their clothes were clean and neat. Credit to them, but also to Care4Calais, that they maintain such high standards with the things they provide.

On our return to the warehouse, there was a debriefing session for all the volunteers. I was impressed by the way the leader asked all the volunteers how their particular job had gone, including the litter pickers. Everyone was given an opportunity to comment, and to feel their contribution had been valued.

On the second day, we were seconded to another charity, the Refugee Women’s Centre, in another unnamed warehouse. There we were checking out tents, to make sure they were complete and in good condition. This meant putting them up, which was challenging, but with the camping expertise of Nicci and Mary Wyman we succeeded. Again, everything was well-labelled and organised, with clear instructions given.

At both charities, it was wonderful to see so many young people from different countries who had paid to come and volunteer in Calais, from anything from a few days to a month.

In the afternoon, we were back with Care4Calais at a different site. The West London Welcome team were on English teaching and games. I think we all found this the most rewarding afternoon, as we were really able to engage with the young men who came. It was touching to see how much they wanted to talk, and to practise their English. They are so eager to learn and start work, opportunities denied to them in their own countries. Many were from Darfur, and as one young man said to me, ‘I was born in war, and I grew up in war’. He wants to go into banking, his cousin into IT and his friend into computer science. I hope their ambitions will be realised.

My overriding impressions were of the dedication, and efficiency of the charities involved, together with their ability to work together, and the seemingly undimmed hopes and keenness of the young men to get on in life, despite all that they have been through.  I am sad that more enforced idleness – since asylum-seeking people are banned from working in the UK – and obstruction awaits them here, although perhaps with a new government and greater co-operation with our European neighbours, things may yet change.

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Mary Ellison has been a volunteer English teacher with us at West London Welcome since 2021.