And so, the final question: What can we do to help? Calais aid workers volunteering in the Jungle have been accused of having sex with migrants, some of whom are believed to be underage, according to a … Featured Programs See All Programs. If you have any time to do so, I wholeheartedly recommend volunteering, whether you have a day, a week or longer. You can still help by donating good. A silk nightie? I met some really interesting people and it really opened my eyes to the situation on the other side of the Channel.”, Can’t volunteer? Can we only be expected to care if provided with just the right image to tug on the heartstrings? It’s often really difficult here in the UK to have a full grasp of what is going on with the refugee crisis in France or elsewhere. 170 Likes, 3 Comments - Choose Love / Help Refugees (@chooselove) on Instagram: “Calais Update - dismantlements and crimes of solidarity Another large scale dismantlement at the…” Each purchase comes with a beautiful, easy to share e-card. Calais Jungle volunteers accused of 'sexually exploiting' camp's refugees.  The official camp in Calais, referred to as the ‘Jungle,’ was demolished in October 2016 (more info following the demolition can be found here). From supporting the volunteers filling gaps left by governments in providing services, dignity and hope, to creating the world’s first shop where you can buy real items for refugees, we’re all about embracing our shared humanity. Refugees were registered and transferred to accommodation centres across France; the suitability, safety and quality of which varies from place to place. For more detailed information about the refugee crisis see the organisations mentioned above, or take a look at the Red Cross or UNHCR, who are also following and tackling the crisis. EqualiTeach is a not-for-profit organisation providing high quality, interactive training and support on issues of equality, diversity and inclusion. Imad’s Choose Love Kitchen serves traditional three-course Syrian meals and is fully staffed by Help Refugees volunteers. More, Visit our partner Indigo Volunteers’ website to find out how you can support refugees in Greece, Bosnia and Serbia More. ), are resold to volunteers and their friends and all the money goes directly back into the charity. By shifting the gaze from state actors, NGOs and migrants to exploring the practices of volunteers adds nuances to the dynamics of the camp. AID workers in the Calais Jungle have been accused of having sex with migrants – in some cases with multiple partners a day. Not the BBC, it seems…, Outside the Box: Considering Gender Equality on International Women’s Day, EqualiTeach Submission to Women and Equalities Committee Call for Evidence on Proposed Changes to the Gender Recognition Act 2004, ‘Anecdote, Assumption and Prejudice’ – A Call to Re-examine the Way we Speak About Asylum, Black History Month: Overcoming the Barriers to Taking Part, Solidarity over Division: Speaking out against Antisemitism. It was distressing to hear that the first night I was there, the camp in Dunkirk had experienced a tear-gas raid from French authorities. This could range from helping out in the warehouse to translating for detained refugees in detention centres. Help Refugees, as well as working practically to send donations, also focuses on helping refugees to maintain dignity and identity. He is right. I packed bags of urgently required donations to send to refugees in Dunkirk, with their dignity in mind. … Networking and Connection (with each other and the Choose Love team) Early Access to New Programs and Revisions Please note: because this is a new and improved platform, everyone will need to register again – even if you have registered in the past. Choose Love. Get involved with campaigns and marches; put pressure on the government by writing to your MP about the crisis, letting them know your views. “What struck me was how strong, kind and positive many of the refugees were. Our vision is an equal, inclusive and diverse society where everyone is valued and able to succeed. From USD 729. It’s run incredibly democratically, with long-term volunteers taking the lead on co-ordinating different areas, but always open to new ideas, input and expertise. We can help, we can change things, if we work together, and if we Choose Love. Volunteering in France is an impactful and insightful way to help refugees on the front line of the refugee crisis. If not money, which is vital for the distribution of supplies across the continent, with one shipping container costing £3500, then practical donations are gratefully received. Visit the online Choose Love store today (www.choose.love) and buy gifts that will make a real and powerful impact to the lives of families living in some of the world’s most appalling refugee camps. I thought that was amazing – I’m a retired nurse … I don’t have any heartstring-tugging photos (except for of some cats, who live at the warehouse, if you happen to be a cat person…). This is a global crisis and a political one. VOLUNTEER IN CALAIS Support refugees in Northern France. Choose Your Destination. * This blog is written from my own experience in Calais, from talking to other volunteers and doing further reading. The day aims to inspire […], Terminology around issues of equality and diversity is a sticking point for many people. There are also organisations based in Dunkirk, for example the Women and Children’s centre, which offers a safe place to go during the day, with regular classes, workshops and games taking place. If you can, choose love. Volunteers and refugees alike work incredibly hard to make a dent clearing the waste on Saturday, side by side, united together. A crisis of this scale might feel like big news, but there are peaks and troughs of coverage as other things catch peoples’ interest, or other events occur, which can allow the refugee crisis to fade to the back of peoples’ minds, or imply that it’s not so bad anymore. Volunteer. Volunteer Projects in Africa. Our site uses cookies. For the last few years, they have run a huge warehouse where volunteers have sorted clothes, tents and toiletries supplies for mass distribution to refugees in Northern France. It’s a simple but powerful message and it goes to the heart of everything we do. Join our mailing list, Powered by  – Designed with the Customizr Theme, Choose Love: My Volunteer Experience In Calais. Chopping onions to pumping tunes. Learn what items we need now! £217k Choose Love shop Total £10.7mil 2016 Choose Love Campaign Corporates In just over 3 years, they have built a strong charitable brand over social media, recruiting over 17.5k Twitter followers, 34.6k Instagram followers, 56.5k Facebook supporters, and just under 400 YouTube subscribers. But instead, I choose to write about Love. It was incredibly frustrating to hear story upon story of refugees, who have the right to claim asylum and have a safe, secure future, being denied that right through bureaucracy, gaps in the system and lack of support and action from governments across Europe. One of the charities, Help Refugees, has been operating in Calais since September 2015 and has a warehouse based there. There are people across the UK coming up with brilliant, creative and innovative ways to raise awareness, and to show solidarity with refugees in the UK. What are people doing on the ground to tackle the crisis? Find the best volunteer opportunities and volunteer organizations in Calais in cause areas like health and medicine, children and youth, education, community building, and more. The pattern for our days in Calais was to spend the morning in the warehouse, sorting donations and making up food parcels or hygiene packs. Keep your eye out for things like the Borderline play recently shown at the Cockpit theatre in London; events like Help Refugees’ ‘Choose Love’, which involved some great nights of live music in London; and other creative events across the country. Donate . It highlights how volunteers are placed right in the middle of the two dominating debates within migration studies: power over migrants and power of migrants, which in effect places the volunteers in an interesting position of power. Suite 11, 31a St Neots Road, St Neots, Cambridgeshire, PE19 7BA, 01480 470660 As much as is possible, refugees are given autonomy: for example being provided with cooking utensils and dry food stores, so they have choice of what to cook, and when to cook it, rather than relying solely on the daily meals from the Refugee Community Kitchen. School and Childcare Renovation Program. That it is not ok to be a refugee, that it is a bad thing to seek safety and security for you and your family. That people will treat you badly even after you have been through unimaginable trauma. Since my return, there has unfortunately been a fire at the Women and Children’s centre, so volunteers are working hard to rebuild what was a crucial part of the camp. Of course, being there gave me a further understanding of the harsh reality of this crisis. Choose Love. Register Login Donate Login Donate Read Volunteer Stories. by Sal Chaffey At the first aid station in Calais a few weeks ago, I taught a 17-year-old Eritrean boy how to play Noughts and Crosses while he told me about his dream of becoming a nurse in the UK. Collecting cash and physical donations, any little helps. What would you like for 2017? Rwanda. This is a humanitarian crisis, these are thousands of people with individual lives and stories and personalities, who have suffered, and who have aspirations for a brighter and safer future. Our partners are always in need of dedicated and enthusiastic volunteers. AirBnB accommodation (from approx. Volunteer in Calais . A fellow volunteer from the warehouse has set up an online forum for showing solidarity for refugees called ‘Now We Make Tomorrow.’ The idea is simple: people can make something (literally anything, a cup of tea if that’s what you make best! Already, in the weeks since my return, so many people have expressed interest and concern, and a genuine desire to find out more, clearly feeling unsure of where to find the answers. Your email address will not be published. In France, Help Refugees and Care4Calais both need voluntary support on the ground, as well as some other organisations: –Dunkirk Women and Children’s Centre– who are really in need of anyone available to help rebuild the centre, especially volunteers with practical skills and experience in this area. People face a great many barriers in understanding […]. Moria camp fire: Now is the time for action. Through working within the refugee camps in Calais, you will get to know those fleeing their countries for a wide variety of reasons and also become part of the Care4Calais community – we are a friendly team and your help will make a big difference. Notes * I watched the documentary with two volunteers who’ve been working in Calais for over a year; another who’s been involved for over two years; and two of us who’ve been volunteering here full time for about three months. by EqualiTeach | Published 16th August 2017-at dimensions 959 × 476 in Choose Love: My Volunteer Experience In Calais. Help Refugees also has partners in Greece, supporting the camps there, for example Refugee Support Greece. The brilliant Warehouse Wardrobe stall has been set up to tackle the problem of unsuitable donations. There are many organisations offering support on the ground. Zimbabwe. There are multiple ways that you can get involved with our organization: Are some lives more worthy of saving than others that we only take action when the media reminds us of the children? These grassroots organisations rely on the generosity of donors to do what they do. Transgender Kids: Who knows best? Volunteers working at the camp state that there are approximately 1000+ refugees staying there, many of whom are children (although official figures state it to be lower). EqualiTeach have launched a free educational resource for schools based on the good practice developed throughout the Free To Be programme. While the main camp is no longer in Calais, the warehouse is still a key hub of activity, sending donations of food, shelter and clothing across France and further afield to Greece and Turkey. The work was not always varied, and not always ‘interesting’, but with a great team and the satisfaction of a job well done, it was always a good day in the warehouse. It’s sometimes the little things that make a difference: sending a set of Spiderman pyjamas to a two year-old boy, hoping he likes them better than the equally warm, but rather random mismatched alternatives. Some of the organisations you can support are: What can you donate? N, 14 “As a young mixed-race girl growing up in the UK… I believe that it is important that we recognise that […]. Choose Love Today at 5:39 AM Tom was volunteering with the Human Rights Observers team and filmin ... g riot police prevent a food distribution for refugees when he was arrested in Calais in 2018. I was moved by the immediacy with which I felt part of the community there. Choose Love. This being said, volunteers are innovative and not at all wasteful. Donations raised through this website are paid to the Help Refugees restricted fund held by Prism The Gift Fund. enquiries@equaliteach.co.uk, Contact an individual in our team Choose Love is a restricted fund under the auspices of Prism the Gift Fund, UK Charity No 1099682. Find out which items are most needed in Calais so that you know what to bring when you come to volunteer. Choose Love – Volunteering in France. * This blog is written from my own experience in Calais, from talking to other volunteers and doing further reading. Help With COVID-19 Choose Love is a grassroots charity, with various projects based in Calais through to Syria. "Gifts from the Choose Love store provided thousands of meals for people living in camps through the cold winter months. No matter how much time I spend in Calais or Dunkirk or elsewhere, I can’t ever truly understand or represent the experience of the refugees. Happy birthday, Abhi, Calais Light’s most faithful refugee volunteer, who’s made 11 out of our 14 convoys over 3 years. In the USA, Choose Love, Inc. is a 501(c)(3) charitable non-profit organization, and gifts are tax-deductible as allowed by law. Featured Destinations See All Destinations. A giant banana onesie? Some were there for months, some just for a day, but all there with the goal of helping refugees, and standing up against a huge humanitarian crisis. It is no small task to co-ordinate a warehouse full of donations; finding the best way to support the thousands of people who’ve been forced to flee their homes and countries. And finally, nothing with any flags or countries printed on. ️ He’s brought his friends with him each trip & his Mum. Every volunteer I encountered gave their all to what could at times be mundane or frustrating tasks. My experience was one of community, positivity, support, strength and spirit. Part of what makes With Love so special is the community of volunteers who all care passionately about the same thing—rallying around foster families with love, encouragement and support. Indigo Volunteers focus on matching your skills and availability to projects in need of help. 36€ a night) is popular in Calais, we recommend that women book in pairs or groups when booking rooms in a shared AirBnB apartments, there have been incidents and it is preferable that volunteers err on the side of safety.. The Help Refugees slogan is a simple one, but sums up everything that needs to be said. More, Our incredible partners support over 1,500 people in Calais & Dunkirk. Many were not registered in time to be accounted for when accommodation was arranged, were not placed in centres, or have left the centres (for various reasons), so there are refugees camping or sleeping rough across France, and there is an official camp, smaller than the jungle, based in Dunkirk. Volunteer Projects in Europe. 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