A UNIVERSITY worker volunteering at a refugee camp in Calais is calling on more people from Bradford to show support.

Lesley McGorrigan, 48, from Saltaire is writing a blog CalaisCalling to diary the two weeks she and friend Umit Yildaz, also 48, from Keighley are spending as volunteers with British charity Care4Calais.

The two, who are also members of Bradford’s Stand Up To Racism group, have handed over a cheque from a fundraiser for £700 to help the stretched-charity keep up its work with the 7,000 plus refugees who have set up home in the camp with about 100 more arriving every day.

Their time is being spent sorting donated goods in a large warehouse before taking clothes and bagged up food parcels out into the camp. They have also been teaching English, running art classes and organising sports activities.

“It gets hectic in the camp but people are desperate. It feels like what we are doing is brilliant but we are doing it on a shoestring where really the governments should be helping these people.

“Being here has been a life-changing experience. People in the camp are very friendly despite living in such squalid conditions and the trauma they have been through. They are fleeing a desperate situation and living in a desperate situation. I’ve heard the mayor of Calais wants the camp dismantled but there’s nowhere for these people to go. They are human beings and they won’t disappear into thin air by their needs being ignored. The one thing that keeps people going is the thought that there are ordinary people like us volunteers who are willing to help them and send donations. That’s what is making their lives bearable at the moment, it raises their spirits.”

Ms McGorrigan, who works as an administrator at the University of Leeds, is appealing for more people from the Bradford district to either join the camp as volunteers or to send much-need donations of goods or money. Top priorities at the moment are food, men’s trousers, men’s t-shirts, small to medium size underwear and shoes. Also on the wanted list are toiletries, tarpaulins, roll mats, sleeping bags, blankets, rucksacks, wind-up torches and lanterns, sun cream, hand washing liquid, buckets and plungers.

As well as the Calais camp, donations are also being sent to other camps in Lille and in Paris. “We really need our warehouse filling up. I’m writing a blog because I want to share what’s happening here and let people know how they can help.” The blog is at calaiscalling.wordpress.com