Last week, Abigail Fox from Ryde decided she wanted to do something to help the refugees at Calais.
She put an event posting up on Facebook and asked Islanders to donate items that she could take to London to pass over to CalAid – a humanitarian organisation collecting urgently-needed donations for those living in the Calais refugee camps. Abi had no idea whether anyone would respond, but they did. In their droves.
OnTheWight stepped up and offered our help, sharing details of the appeal to a wider audience, putting together a map of drop-off points around the Island and creating a form to gather details of those willing to help out.
Free ferry travel secured
We’re pleased that we’ve also been able to help secure free travel on Red Funnel ferries for any vehicles taking donations to London for CalAid.
Jonathan Green at Red Funnel responded to our request positively and without hesitation at the weekend. Well done Red Funnel.
Overwhelming generosity of Islanders
Abigail told OnTheWight this morning,
“When I started my collection last week I hoped to have enough items to fill my car to take to CalAid.
“Now it looks like we will need a haulage company to help deliver the goods, thanks to the kindness and generosity of the Isle of Wight community.”
Warehouse needed
Many Islanders have been very helpful in providing drop-off points across the Isle of Wight, but as donations received by CalAid have to be staggered, it’s looking likely that a short-term central storage space might be needed.
If you know of anyone who may have storage, preferably in Newport, that they could offer for a few weeks, please ask them to get in touch.
Find out more about what’s needed, the drop-off points and how to offer your help by visiting our ‘Collection for Calais’ article or pop over to the Facebook event page.
