After a “long struggle” Secours Catholique (Caritas France) have announced that they are now able to host asylum seekers in a new building within the town of Calais rather than in the impermanent ‘Jungle’ camp.
Vincent de Connick, manager of Secours Catholique in the Calais region, said:
“For us, it’s about having the ability to receive our migrant friends in a different setting, in town, in a more dignified way, for a distribution of clothes where they can have a choice, without needing to queue and with a different type of welcome … which is not possible in the Jungle. For this we need donations in quantities because there are 9,000 people and we are short of everything!”
Secours Catholique have put out a call for donations, as they resume with two major distributions per month for a few hundred people at a time. These can be delivered every Monday afternoon and Wednesday afternoon from 14.00 – 17.00 without appointment at 47 rue de Moscou, in Calais.
They have asked for men’s clothes only, focusing on small sizes (S and M), including underclothing, backpacks, hiking boots and trainers, coats, blankets, sleeping bags, scarves, gloves and hats. They also need a large number of bicycles. They have asked for no food donations, as they are not involved in food distribution.
Alternatively, financial donations can be made through CSAN’s website, which are passed on either to Secours Catholique or the Kent based charity Seeking Sanctuary which delivers material goods to the camp regularly.
