Slightly delayed update after our trip on November 14-15.

Back in the UK now after an eventful weekend. Met some amazing people who are working hard to try and improve the lives of people in the Grande-Synthe camp in Dunkirk.

In the end we almost had more donations than we could take, every item some of you donated helped - even the items that weren't suitable are being take to "Cash for Clothes" where they will help us raise an additional £80.

Here's how the weekend went:

Saturday:

After the tragic news in Paris, we weren't sure if we would be allowed to travel, but we were determined nonetheless. We woke up expecting to find boarder closures, but saw that Eurotunnel was running on time. We loaded up the last bits and headed off. We arrived in Dunkirk where we met Hafsa who is int he camp daily helping and who leases with volunteers visiting the camp, she also has storage for donations and let us store the items we brought over until the next day when were going into the camp.

We then drove to the Auchan supermarket where we loaded up with supplies to create individual food packets containing oranges, apples, rice, tuna and onions. It took a couple of trips to fit everything in. We spent the evening putting them together and ended up with 520 food packets and 360 1.5l bottles of water.

Sunday:

We were a bit concerned about how we were actually going to transport everything to the camp. It would have taken several trips. Hafsa and another volunteer, Sarah, had agreed to help us distribute. Keir bumped into Sarah and 3 other volunteers at the hotel who had an empty flat bed truck. It took two trips to the camp, but the six of us managed to hand out all the food packets, water and clothes. About 10% was held back for targeted distribution either to those that were unable to walk to the drop-off point near the camp entrance, or those that didn't show up but Hafsa and Sarah knew needed some of the donations.

Had we not had Hafsa, Sarah and the other experienced volunteers' help it would have been very difficult to hand out all the donations we had. It is thanks to the people we met and those like them, who help on a regular basis, that many people in the camp aren't in a worse situation.

There were too many children in the camps. We brought chocolates for the children, as well as some clothes, but sadly much more was needed.

After we finished handing things out we walked towards the centre of the camp where there is a tea hut. Just as we were sitting, waiting for some tea, there was shouting outside. We went out to see what the commotion was and a lot of people were running through the camp. We weren't sure what was happening, but it seems there was a personal dispute that escalated. The fire brigade and police arrived and the volunteers had to leave the camp for some time.

I have some pictures of the journey attached, but as we left in a hurry before getting an opportunity to walk around the camp, I don't have many pictures to show you exactly how bad the living conditions really are. There is no permanent help, some aid agencies do visit, but not regularly, there is a lack of shelter and blankets so some people are literally sleeping in the mud on freezing nights. The weather was so bad over the weekend that some tents were literally blown away.

Heading back in January and the focus this time will be on tents and sleeping bags. We will still take any other donations, but if you have spare tents or sleeping bags or would like to buy any to donate, please let me know. The GoGetFunding page is still open and collecting for January.https://assets.gogetfunding.com/food-and-shelter-for-migrants-in-d…/

There are estimated to be 1300-1500 people in the Grande-Synthe camp now, this is one of 4 camps in Dunkirk.

We had a massive increase in donations in the last week and at the time were unable to plan around how to make best use of the added money. In the end we made money stretch very far and made all teh food parcels spending just £590. This has left £900 to put towards out trip in January, where we hope to raise £3500 to buy 100 tents, sleeping bags, blankets and groundsheets.