THE volunteers behind Scotland’s largest single supply of aid to refugees in Calais have vowed to return to the camps.
A total of 24 people and 10 vehicles left Scotland on Thursday carrying several hundred bags of winter clothing and essentials to the camps of Calais and Dunkirk.
Now those behind the East Ren Convoy to Calais have pledged to continue supporting destitute refugees.
Laura Pritchard, a co-founder of the aid effort, told The National the experience had been “life changing”, adding: “No matter how much we have done, it’s absolutely nothing.
“We were handing out jumpers and getting to the end of our supply when I noticed the three men in front of me were barefoot. It was freezing.
“Everybody who was there was affected by it – you’d have to be a very hard person not to be. Nothing can prepare you for how you actually feel when you are standing right in the middle of it all. You’re looking at these people thinking that it could be you.”
The convoy left Barrhead in East Renfrewshire after a donation drive so successful that organisers had to call a halt to the collection.
Some items not needed in France have been passed on to agencies for distribution to refugees in Greece.
However, Pritchard said those living in the camps needed more than donations of clothing and supplies.
She said: “It is full of people with post-traumatic stress disorder living in a very desperate situation. Everyone wants to talk and tell their stories and be treated like a human being. The camp is desperate and depressing.
“The atmosphere changes at dusk – the sense of desperation gets heavier.
“It is disillusioning that governments can allow this to happen.”
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