After volunteering over recent months with the Refugee Community Kitchen in London, Layla & I decided to drive our camper van to Calais to help cook and serve warm, nutritious meals without judgement to those fleeing war, poverty, persecution and climate change.

We left London at the end of August with our camper van full of boxes of clothes that we'd collected from our ‘Made to be Worn’ project which similarly places ‘Unsold Clothes on Displaced People’.

Once we arrived in Calais we delivered these essential items to the Refugee Womens Centre who provide the main basic aid gaps in lives of those in transit & seeking a home. These items were greatly received by the volunteers who were not used to receiving 'new clothes'. Each day a group of volunteers went into the camps to distribute a selection of womans & kids clothing which were desperately needed.

At the Refugee Community Kitchen we met an amazing team of volunteers of all ages, from a variety of different countries. Our days were spent chopping & pealing veg, sorting large bread donations, stirring vats of masala tea & washing up the endless piles of dirty pans!

After the kitchen day shift, we went out to the distribution centre to serve around 500 meals to people living in small makeshift camps waiting to try and cross the border. They had come from a large number of war-torn countries, most notably Sudan, Eritrea, Afghanistan, Syria & Iraq.

With the global number of displaced people at a record high, and the crisis in Europe getting worse, we recognised how important these charities are - not just serving hot meals and providing essential support to vulnerable people, but also giving them a place to gather and connect to a kinder world. 

It was a truly rewarding but challenging adventure, as well as a special mother and daughter bonding experience. We have nearly reached our target of GBP3,000, so we’d like to say a big thank you in advance for all your help and generosity. Love Sarah & Layla x