Care4Calais

Care4Calais A volunteer-run charity supporting refugees in the UK and France. You can find out more about us at www.care4calais.org
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Care4Calais is a volunteer-run charity delivering essential aid and support to refugees living in the UK and Northern France. We believe in a fair and tolerant British society and advocate for a welcoming and inclusive attitude towards refugees. Operating year round, we provide warm clothing, bedding, food and medical assistance to people in desperate need. We also provide social support and interaction, including language lessons and sports and music workshops. We are not politicians; we are ordinary people like you who believe that everyone deserves to be treated with dignity. We are on the ground with the refugees every single day, and are respectful of their common humanity and responsive to their needs. We use our on-the-ground presence and relationship with the refugee community to provide the much-needed help that other organisations are not able to. We also work with research and media organisations to advocate for a welcoming and inclusive attitude towards refugees and asylum seekers. We have hosted thousands of volunteers, politicians, journalists and campaigners at our centre in Calais and are involved in a number of campaigns aimed at influencing the public’s perception of refugees.

Still looking? Good, that’s the point.There isn’t one.To claim asylum in the UK, our Government requires you to be in th...
07/10/2026

Still looking? Good, that’s the point.

There isn’t one.

To claim asylum in the UK, our Government requires you to be in the country first. But if you were a Sudanese refugee fleeing the war in your country, every visa scheme is closed to you.

In Calais, there has been a Sudanese community for some time. People forced to flee their homes as a result of the ongoing war in Sudan, who are now seeking safety from it.

It is little surprise then that Sudanese nationals are the second most likely nationality to cross the Channel in a small boat to claim asylum (Eritrea is the most likely nationality, another country suffering from conflict).

When Sudanese nationals do arrive in the UK, they have the highest asylum grant rate of any nationality (92% of claims that had a decision last year were granted protection - and after appeal, that rate will be higher!).

Our Government recognises that Sudanese nationals need safety. They just refuse to give them a way to reach it safely.

It doesn’t have to be this way. When the UK Government opened up the Ukrainian visa scheme in 2022, Ukrainians settled in the UK - and none had to risk their lives in the Channel to do so.

Not offering safe routes is a political choice that chooses the hostile environment over compassion, small boat crossings over planned resettlement schemes, and deaths in the Channel over safety.

It is also a political choice to reject this status quo by opening safe routes. Comment SAFE ROUTES below and join our campaign fighting for the UK Government to open real, accessible safe routes for refugees.

We're devastated by the news that our border has killed again.Two refugees, reported to be in their 30s and 40s, have pa...
05/10/2026

We're devastated by the news that our border has killed again.

Two refugees, reported to be in their 30s and 40s, have passed away off the coast of Berck.

Another three were injured in the incident.

Our thoughts are with the families and loved ones of those who died. We stand with them at this incredibly difficult time.

Whilst this latest loss of life occurred overnight, the far-right in the UK were 'protesting' again over the arrival of one boat in Gosport. Parts of the right-wing media are running what feels like round the clock coverage of that single boat arrival, with (unelected) politicians like Zia Yusuf running to Gosport to make political capital.

This is the problem with right-wing politics at the moment. Zero concern for human life - but opportunism on steroids.

It's disgraceful political pantomime.

People should not have to risk their lives in dangerous boats to reach safety. These deaths must stop.

We need safe routes now.
www.saferoutes.care4calais.org

Today we are joining a rally and family event to celebrate the 90th anniversary of the Battle of Cable Street. But this ...
04/10/2026

Today we are joining a rally and family event to celebrate the 90th anniversary of the Battle of Cable Street. But this is not simply a heritage event - it is a commitment to action.

There are some similarities between now and the mid-1930s. Economic worries, people hurting and angry, politics hostile and divided, and sadly - emboldened fascists taking advantage.

90 years ago, men dressed in black attempted to march through the East End of London in an act of anti-semitism created to intimidate and divide. But ordinary people from varied backgrounds, literally stood shoulder to shoulder determined and united against the fascists.
And as a result, Oswald Mosely’s ‘Blackshirts’ did not pass.

Today we celebrate that resistance and learn from it.

(The Cable Street 90 march will assemble at 12 noon on Sunday 4 Oct, outside Tower Hamlets Town Hall, 160 Whitechapel Road, London E1)

It’s official - the ‘one in, one out’ agreement between the UK and France will be scrapped.But not before the UK Governm...
02/10/2026

It’s official - the ‘one in, one out’ agreement between the UK and France will be scrapped.

But not before the UK Government attempts to remove those currently detained under the scheme (many of whom we’re supporting).

For the last year, our detention team has helped hundreds of people impacted by the scheme.

Refugees who were refused a safe route to claim asylum by our Government.

Who arrived on the same boat as others, but were chosen at random to be the ones subjected to the scheme.

Who were locked up and given just 7 days to challenge their removal.

And then, for the vast majority at least, returned to France.

Back in April we submitted evidence to the Independent Chief Inspector for Borders and Immigration on the clients we had supported up until that point.

9 out of 10 had survived torture and/or modern slavery.

41% had family in the UK.

Nine were CHILDREN.

The Government knew of each of these cases. We made sure of that by getting our clients legal representation. In most cases, they ignored all the evidence and removed the individual anyway.

We weren’t the only ones ignored. They also ignored UN experts who said the scheme could violate human rights laws.

This scheme has been brutal, and caused lasting harm to those subjected to it. The last cohort of clients are still in detention, and until the very last minute, our caseworkers will help fight their removal. We need people like you to stand with us.

Comment SOLIDARITY below and join our movement. Fight for those currently in detention, and commit to opposing any attempt to replace this harmful with another.

A few hundred places on safe routes won’t cut it. Comment SAFE ROUTES below and join our demand for real change 👇Last ye...
30/09/2026

A few hundred places on safe routes won’t cut it. Comment SAFE ROUTES below and join our demand for real change 👇

Last year 42,394 refugees were granted protection by the UK Government. Every one of them had to be in the UK before they could claim asylum as the Government doesn’t permit applications from abroad.

But the UK Government didn’t offer them a safe route to get here.

This week, the Home Secretary announced that next year she will reopen a small number of safe routes, including for Afghan women and children, and Palestinians fleeing the genocide in Gaza. That’s welcome - but only a few hundred refugees will be able to access these safe routes.

Safe routes work. We know this from the success of the Ukrainian visa scheme. When the Government opened this safe route in 2022, the gathering Ukrainian community in Calais dispersed overnight to apply for their safe route. None had to cross the Channel to reach the UK.

If the UK granted protection to 42,394 refugees in the last year, that should be the bare minimum for any safe routes that are to be opened. Anything less is a political choice that continues to force people to cross the Channel in order to claim asylum here.

Alongside PCS Union, Care4Calais has developed a full, workable policy to introduce real, accessible safe routes on a scale that will end Channel crossings. Comment SAFE ROUTES to back our plan and join the campaign.

Comment COATS4CALAIS below and we will help get the coat you never wear to a refugee in Calais who needs one.As we reach...
29/09/2026

Comment COATS4CALAIS below and we will help get the coat you never wear to a refugee in Calais who needs one.

As we reach for our winter coats, people sleeping outside in northern France face the cold without that protection. No warm room to return to. No dry place to escape the rain.

Coats4Calais is a simple concept - and it’s super easy for you to get involved. Swipe to see how easy it is.

A coat you no longer wear could help someone stay warm through the hardest months of the year.

Donate a pre-loved winter coat: Comment COATS4CALAIS and we’ll DM you the drop-off link.

Give £25 to help provide a new winter coat: Comment DONATE and we’ll DM you the donation link.

We are devastated and angry that three more people have lost their lives at the UK-France border.This morning, a boat ca...
28/09/2026

We are devastated and angry that three more people have lost their lives at the UK-France border.

This morning, a boat carrying more than 100 people got into difficulty off the coast of Calais. Two women and a 10-year-old child died, and two other people were taken for emergency treatment.

This comes just days after we reported three other deaths at the border.

Our thoughts are with the families and loved ones of those who died. We stand with them at this incredibly difficult time.

People should not have to risk their lives in dangerous boats to reach safety. These deaths must stop.

We need safe routes now.
www.saferoutes.care4calais.org

NEU General Secretary: Daniel Kebede is donating his coat to . Will you?Thank you to Daniel for supporting and standi...
25/09/2026

NEU General Secretary: Daniel Kebede is donating his coat to . Will you?

Thank you to Daniel for supporting and standing with refugees by donating his coat.

As we reach for our winter coats, people sleeping outside in northern France face the cold without that protection. No warm room to return to. No dry place to escape the rain.

That’s why we’re launching this year’s Coats4Calais appeal. And why your support matters.

A coat you no longer wear could help someone stay warm through the hardest months of the year.

Donate a pre-loved winter coat:
https://care4calais.org/thedropoffmap/

Give £25 to help provide a new winter coat: https://shop.care4calais.org/products/waterproof-coat

Join Daniel. Stand with refugees. Nobody should face winter without a coat.

We are devastated by yet more deaths at our border. Amidst all the noise, you may not know that over the last two days, ...
25/09/2026

We are devastated by yet more deaths at our border.

Amidst all the noise, you may not know that over the last two days, three lives have been lost.

That means families and friends devastated, lives taken, lives ruined.

The pain and grief continues.

We need safe routes now.

https://saferoutes.care4calais.org/

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