SOLIDARITY IN ACTION
Refugees are not a problem to be solved. They are people to be supported.
Every year, Staffordshire NEU branch has the opportunity to put solidarity into practice by joining delegations to Calais and working alongside Care4Calais, a UK refugee support organisation.
There are normally two opportunities to go — around the May Bank Holiday and again in July, as schools break up.
This July – Keely, Kirsty, Sian and I made the journey.
WHY DID I WANT TO GO?
For me, the decision to go to Calais came from a simple question: If I believe in solidarity, what does that actually mean in practice?
It is easy to talk about refugees, migration and humanitarian issues from a distance.
I wanted to move beyond simply talking about it and do something practical — to meet people, listen to their experiences and offer whatever help I could.
I also wanted to understand what happens on the ground and see for myself the role that ordinary volunteers can play in supporting people who are living in incredibly difficult circumstances.
THE EXPERIENCE — IN BRIEF
FRIDAY — THE JOURNEY
We met, loaded up the donations and set off for Calais.
Keely brought something particularly special — letters from her Year 7 students, alongside messages from previous delegates and volunteers.
We arrived, settled into our hotel close to the Care4Calais warehouse and prepared for the weekend ahead.
SATURDAY — HOSPITAL SITE
The morning began at the warehouse with a briefing and jobs allocated.
We sorted clothing, prepared hot drinks and biscuits, organised the phone-charging boards, prepared generators and loaded the vans.
Then we headed to the Hospital Site.
The afternoon was about providing practical support — but also about creating a space where people could simply feel welcome, talk, laugh and connect.
SUNDAY — CITY CENTRE
The process began again: briefing, jobs allocated, vans loaded and off to the City Centre site.
Football, chess, cards, Jenga, haircuts, clothing, phone charging, hot drinks and music were all happening around us.
At times, up to 900 people were accessing these services.
WHAT YOU’LL BE DOING
You don’t need specialist skills. You just need to be willing to help.
- 👕 Sort and distribute clothing and essential items
- ☕ Prepare and serve hot drinks
- 🔋 Set up phone-charging stations
- ⚡ Help with generators and equipment
- ⚽ Organise football and games
- ♟️ Play chess, cards and Jenga
- 💈 Support hair-cutting sessions
- 🎵 Help create a welcoming atmosphere
- 💬 Talk, listen, laugh and connect
Volunteers come from different countries, organisations and backgrounds — but for those few days, we are all there for the same reason.
MY PERSONAL REFLECTION — WHAT I REALISED
What stayed with me wasn’t just the scale of the situation. It was the humanity of it. People weren’t simply arriving to collect clothes or charge a phone. They were coming into a space where volunteers knew their names, played games with them, shared music, made drinks and spent time talking.
I realised that solidarity is much more than providing things.Sometimes the most important thing you can give someone is your time.
The letters from Keely’s Year 7 students brought this home for me. They created smiles, laughter and conversations. Something written by children in a classroom, hundreds of miles away, had made a real connection with people in Calais.
I came away thinking that we can sometimes feel powerless when faced with huge humanitarian issues.
But we aren’t powerless.
- We can give our time.
- We can collect donations.
- We can organise.
- We can listen.
- We can show up.
And when lots of people do those small things together, they become something much bigger.
WANT TO GET INVOLVED?
There are normally two Staffordshire NEU delegations each year:
- May – Bank Holiday Weekend
- July – End of Term
You can get involved by:
- 🚐 Joining the delegation
- 📦 Collecting or donating essential items
- ✉️ Helping organise messages and letters
- 🤝 Volunteering your time
- 📢 Encouraging colleagues to get involved
You don’t have to be an expert. You just have to be willing to stand alongside others.
Solidarity isn’t just something we talk about. It’s something we do.