This community group was established in Calais Jungle to aid refugees. Since then, it has been at the forefront for the refugee crisis.
Local RNLI crews often rescue dinghies carrying people across English Channel. Volunteers Hastings Supports RefugeesThey are often the first to greet them on dry ground.
“We go down to the beach and offer a humanitarian response,” Jane Grimshaw, the group’s convenor, told Positive News. “We bring them fish and chips, and cups of tea.”
She added: “The emergency services are brilliant. But they have their professional roles to play, so there’s this gap where there is no humanitarian response. We felt the need to fill that gap.”
Volunteers should bring clean, dry clothes to refugees who have been at sea for hours or days. “The most moving thing for us is to stand there, look them in the eye and say ‘welcome to my country’,” said Grimshaw.
Hastings Supports Refugees (part of) City of Sanctuary UKA network of communities that offer support to refugees.
Image: Jametlene Reskp
