Volunteers have been stepping up their efforts to help the displaced in the run-up to Refugee Week which continues until Sunday (26)
St Albans has provided homes and hospitality for two families from a camp in Lebanon who were greeted on arrival with a cooked meal and provided with school uniforms and household items from the Herts Welcomes Syrian Families Network Group.
Chair Irene Austin said: “Everyone is doing what they can to alleviate the suffering of those caught up in the largest forced migration since the Second World War.”
St Albans solicitor Seb Rounds has added his voice after spending a weekend at Calais’s Jungle Camp as a volunteer with charity Care4Calais which distributes aid to refugees.
When he went, 250 shelters had been destroyed because of a fire a couple of days previously.
Herts volunteers took a caravan with them so children in the camp had a safer place to sleep at night.
Seb spent his time in Calais buying and issuing sleeping bags to the refugees and carrying out repairs to the camp.
He said: “Men, women and children are living on top of each other in appalling conditions, most having already travelled thousands of miles from conflict-riven countries. What they endured to get here can only be imagined.
“Seeing the camp with your own eyes really hammers home the grim reality for so many refugees worldwide.
“It’s hard to come back without the feeling that we should be doing more to help.”
He added: “Refugee Week is all about shining a spotlight on the experiences of refugees and celebrating their contribution to the UK.”
For more information about Refugee Week, click here.
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