Greece bore the brunt of the global financial meltdown. As always ordinary people suffer as jobs and money disappears. But who is helping the people who had nothing to start with?

Right now there are people living in cages there. That's right, cages. They are not criminal or violent, they are people who have done nothing wrong. They just happen to have the kind of learning difficulties that mean they are not safe to look after themselves. In Britain we're still lucky enough to be able to give most people with learning disabilities decent support. In Greece they simply can't afford to do that, so you may have 25 residents being looked after by just one carer. One person cannot keep 25 people with that kind of needs safe. So they do the best they can with what they have and lock them up to keep them from immediate harm. What else can they do?

They don't have choices, but we do. A friend of mine is working in one of these institutions and in the few days she has been there she has already seen a difference. The residents are desperate to communicate, interact and have a life. They are reaching out with curiosity and affection for the things they have been starved of for years. The staff are also keen to learn how they can do more and how their system can change for the better.

We want to fund an Occupational Therapist for three months to work with desperately deprived people in Greece. Their work will make a lasting difference for people at the bottom of the heap.

But the need is urgent. The people who manage the home are worried outsiders will not understand their situation and will condemn them. It's a terrible situation but it needs to be dealt with sensitively and we need to show we can help before the doors are closed on us.

Please help us unlock those cages forever. Donate now to fund an Occupational Therapist for three months