Building for refugees

In August 2015 I joined some friends taking a trailer full of tinned and dried food, building materials and clothing donations to a warehouse on an industrial estate in Calais. The Warehouse was run by volunteer groups from all over the UK and northern France.

We spent the weekend cooking meals, sorting donations and building insulated shelters in the ‘Calais Jungle’, an unofficial refugee camp not far from the Eurotunnel. Then the camp housed around 3000 people. At the time of its demolition in October 2016, it grew to over 8000.

We built the shelters out of two-inch timber, OSB boards and strong plastic wrap to keep the weather out. We insulated the floor panels and the walls and ceiling; it was basic but much better than sleeping in a tent on the ground.

We often built alongside people who would be sleeping inside that night. We heard about their journeys to get to Calais, walking for days, taking dangerous sea crossings in crowded boats.

I met a boy who had walked from Afghanistan to Essex, been deported back, then started the journey all over again as far as Calais.

After one weekend trip, I emailed the charity Help Refugees (now called Choose Love) asking if I could help as a long term volunteer. They put me in touch with a small group of tradespeople working in the refugee camps in Northern Greece.

Working in official refugee camps was very different to being in the Jungle. “Officially” the camps were supposed to be run by the Greek military but there was a large charity contingent, filling in the gaps left by the authorities’ bad management.

We built a school in one camp, repaired countless toilets and showers and made more insulated floor panels in a drive to get the camps ready for winter.

I spent a month in Northern Greece, three months in Serbia and another three months on the Greek Island Lesbos. I would recommend anyone, with or without a trade, to spend a few weeks or months doing this work.