I am running the Bath half marathon (13.1 miles) on Sunday 15th March to raise money for a grassroots charity called Roots which operates in Calais & Dunkirk and to raise awareness about the destitute conditions in which refugees live on our border. 

While the Calais Jungle was demolished over three year ago, the flow of refugees has not stopped. Public awareness about the situation in Calais has dropped but there are still hundreds of brave men, women and children sleeping in tents, in bushes, abandoned warehouses and on roadsides because they are not provided with accommodation as they wait to make the perilous journey across the channel to reach the UK. 

When we think of humanitarian aid our minds picture tents, bags of food and clothes, but one form of aid which we tend to overlook is phone charge. We rely on our phone almost every minute of every day to communicate with our loved ones, to distract ourselves with a game or a Netflix episode, to find out train times and to guide us to the pub. Refugees have the same needs, albeit more urgently and with life saving consequences. 

A charged phone allows refugees to look through photos of their loved ones back home, to communicate with them, to let them know they are safe, to watch late night football games as a distraction from the nightmares of physical attacks which they suffer for no other reason than being refugees. It allows them to stay up to date with the news and immigration laws, to identify where they are on a map, to find out where they can get donations and to stay in touch with charities when they are not on the ground. I guess we can loosely call it dignity.

Phones are invaluable for those on the move and Roots charity has come up with the ingenious idea of making portable chargers which last up to 10 hours (4 phone charges) by recycling used batteries. It only costs Roots £2 to make a charger that you can buy on the high street for £20. And once the portable chargers are empty, they take them back to their workshop and charge them over night, with a label on each charger so they get returned to their rightful owner the following day.

As well as the portable power banks, Roots does litter picking in order to keep the make shift camps as hygienic as possible, and also provides refugees with home-made electric hand warmers which they can connect to the power bank in order to stay warm. This initiative was a response to several refugees dying from pneumonia on cold winter nights last year. 

Roots' system is simple and efficient and they need our support. It is a noble aim and that is why I ask for your support in raising money for this cause because I know from experience that your money will go so far with this project. 

Please encourage me by giving what you can. I am hoping to raise £250 (That’s 125 power banks!). Thank you very much!!!

Lots of love and lots of light xxx