Herts For Refugees

Herts For Refugees Herts for Refugees is a humanitarian organisation that stands in solidarity with refugees

Another week, another festival cleared of lots of lovely tents and sleeping bags! This week we were at Boomtown Fair, wo...
20/08/2026

Another week, another festival cleared of lots of lovely tents and sleeping bags!

This week we were at Boomtown Fair, working with the fab team from sustainability to help save good gear from landfill. We were once again joined by our partners at Hope and Aid Direct who brought a 7.5t truck and our friends Capuche Mobilisée who came all the way from France with their van to help out.

Thankfully, the weather was a bit cooler than in recent weeks but the site was incredibly dry and dusty! It didn't stop our fantastic team of volunteers who got stuck in and filled the truck by end of play on Tuesday. It rained a little on Wednesday morning which helped keep the dust down but also meant everything still on the field was now a bit damp!

We made use of the festival's fencing as an impromptu drying rack and soon had a zillion sleeping bags steaming in the sunshine...☀️

We left exhausted and grubby but with full loads of good gear.

A massive thank you to all at Boomtown for helping make this possible, a special shout out to the catering team! 😋

We have one more big salvage event this season at Reading on the 31st of August/1st September. We really need your help if we're going to collect enough equipment to keep people sheltered and warm this winter. It's a great way to get some fresh air, save good equipment from landfill and know you're keeping displaced people alive in the coldest months.

Please sign up now via the link below, the cut-off date is Monday 24th August so don't miss out, get on the list, even if you're not sure if you can make it.

Thanks so much...🙏

HfR are known for our big festival salvage events but there's a lot more that goes on behind the scenes. We'll always go...
11/08/2026

HfR are known for our big festival salvage events but there's a lot more that goes on behind the scenes. We'll always go the extra mile to collect aid so, on Monday we were salvaging in Norfolk and today we were collecting aid in Derbyshire. That's over 500 "extra miles" covered and it's only Tuesday..!

A massive thanks to our friends at Circular Camping for inviting us to collaborate and for all the hard work the teams at both locations put in to make it happen.

If you'd like to join in and help us collect more vital aid, details of our next volunteering events are below.

Boomtown festival, near Wi******er, 18th & 19th August.
Sign-up form here: https://forms.gle/QQ2a7RJnTP7QYSby9

Reading festival, 31st August & 1st September.
Sign-up form here: https://forms.gle/8NwYkutc19Fdc68s9

These are the final events of the year and our last chance to fill the trucks with life-saving aid that will protect refugees this winter.

Come and help us repurpose waste into warmth..!

07/08/2026

Truck Festival - completed it!

The wonderful volunteers who helped out at Truck Festival have already had their salvage delivered to our warehouse in Calais.

With an estimated 250,000 tents left behind at UK music festivals each year, there’s plenty more tents to collect.

Volunteer for festival salvage by commenting SALVAGE, BOOMTOWN or READING below and we will DM you the form to sign up to help out at the following festivals.

📍 Boomtown - Tuesday 18th August
📍 Reading Festival - Monday 31st August
📍 Leeds Festival - Monday 31st August
📍 Creamfields Monday 31st August

In the short lull between festival salvage operations, HfR are still busy behind the scenes making sure aid gets to wher...
01/08/2026

In the short lull between festival salvage operations, HfR are still busy behind the scenes making sure aid gets to where it's needed.

Last Wednesday, we were back in Calais with another massive aid drop to our partner organisations. We delivered a whopping 45,000 Vegware spoons to Community Kitchen, collected the day before from founders Janie & Steve. Always great to catch up..!

We also had a load of tents, sleeping bags shoes & clothing for our friends at Capuche Mobilisée & Refugee Women's Centre which were gratefully received. Despite the benevolent weather, life is incredibly hard for displaced people who face a daily struggle just to survive.

Constant evictions of living sites have seriously depleted stocks of tents & sleeping bags in particular, meaning winter stockpiles are already being used up. We need as many volunteers as possible to help us collect these vital items at our remaining festival salvage events this month at Boomtown & Reading.

Sign-up details are below, come and join us and be part of the team for a day!

Boomtown - https://forms.gle/uBVngmWM8vB7ce9p6

Reading - https://forms.gle/iT8igqFALJ2p2zs37

We've just about recovered from another epic weekend with our friends Herts For Refugees at the first Festival Salvage o...
03/07/2026

We've just about recovered from another epic weekend with our friends Herts For Refugees at the first Festival Salvage of the season Isle of Wight Festival 💚
This year was a real scorcher but the hard work of the Green Team in getting the environmental message across meant the salvage was smooth and easy and very little went to waste!

Why do we do this? Great question, we'd love to tell you...

We're a charity rooted in sustainability and we believe in giving a second life to things that other people might no longer want. But the gear we collect at salvage doesn't head to our shops, it goes straight to the front lines of the refugee crisis, thanks to the hard work of Herts for Refugees and their partners working in places like Calais & Dunkirk.

When you read those sensationalised headlines about refugees, do you ever think about the real people whose lives are being scrutinised? At Emmaus Hertfordshire, we are driven by a shared belief in solidarity with those in need.
Did you know...
🤝Displaced people fleeing conflict face the scorching sun, freezing nights & brutal conditions in Northern France & beyond.
🤝Regular police raids mean the only shelter these people have, along with everything they own, is regularly confiscated or destroyed.
🤝Because they lose everything in an instant, they rely on a constant pipeline of emergency shelter just to stay warm & dry, or out of the sun.

Festival salvage isn't just about a fun weekend away (though we do fit that in!!) its about saving tonnes of waste out of landfill, but crucially, its about delivering life-saving aid to some of the most vulnerable people in the world.
Our companions know all too well what a lonely and hostile place the world can feel when you don't have a safe place to call home. People in need are people in need, whether they are here on our doorstep or across the channel. Our work with Herts for Refugees proves that no matter our circumstance, when we join together, we can achieve something wonderful, and impact someone else's life.

Our first festival event of the year is over and it was a scorcher!We were back at the Isle of Wight (our seventh year i...
27/06/2026

Our first festival event of the year is over and it was a scorcher!

We were back at the Isle of Wight (our seventh year in a row) to salvage tents and sleeping bags to supply our partners overseas with winter stock. It was also our second year running the Green Team at the festival which was much expanded from last years trial. 20 fabulous volunteers worked tirelessly in the heat and dust. engaging with campers to help them recycle, keep the campsites clean and show them how to fold down those pesky pop-up tents! We also had official donation points in each area where people could choose to donate tents, sleeping bags and other items. It was a great success and a massive thank you to Charlotte Buttery, our manager on the island for once again going above and beyond in overseeing every aspect of the team right through the festival and still turning out to help with the salvage afterwards..! Legend...🧡

The salvage itself went very smoothly, a big thanks to the Isle of Wight Festival for having us back again. The environmental message is definitely getting through (helped by our Green Team😉) as what was a multi-day, multi-vehicle job is now completed in a couple of hours with two vans. We still collected a good amount of tents, sleeping bags and other equipment with very little left on the fields going to waste.

We were delighted to have our good friends from Emmaus Hertfordshire back with us again, they do a fabulous job and it wouldn't be the same without them.

Finally, we couldn't do any of it without the fantastic Green Team and salvage volunteers who did a truly amazing job in very hot and sticky weather, thank you all, we love you and hope to see you again next time!

If you'd like to join us in the fields, we have two more salvage events this year. Boomtown on 18th-19th August & Reading on 31st Aug-1st September.

Sign-up below or message us for more info.

See you in the fields..!

Boomtown - https://forms.gle/Mqk8s4Xi1JMSs16e9

Reading - https://forms.gle/vL33pJFrRi63FHVW6

We've been little quiet on here lately but not because we've not been up to anything, just the opposite in fact!On the 1...
19/06/2026

We've been little quiet on here lately but not because we've not been up to anything, just the opposite in fact!

On the 13th, we were delighted to attend the special Evensong celebration for all the local charities and groups supported by St Albans Cathedral. You may remember that HfR were extremely fortunate to be named as the Cathedral's Christmas Charity last December, a great privilege. It was a wonderful evening, our special thanks to Dee Youngs for representing us on the night.

Also on the 13th, we made a 500 round trip to deliver a full load of aid to a container in Pembrokeshire. It will shortly be heading off for delivery to our fantastic friends at The Free Shop. If you've been watching the news recently, you'll know Lebanon has suffered massive destruction and displacement of the population. This aid is desperately needed and will help hundreds of people.

On the 17th, we were back in France again with another load of aid for the wonderful team at Mobile Refugee Support. We delivered 400 pairs of trainers, 35 bags of clothes, 12 bags of blankets and some sleeping bags. Again, much needed in the current hostile climate with people losing everything in near-daily evictions. Their stock of tents and sleeping bags is getting perilously low which brings us to our current project...

Tomorrow, we're off to the Isle of Wight for our first festival salvage event of this season. We'll have our official donation points again as well as our Green Team volunteers to encourage festival goers to reduce, reuse and recycle as far as possible and to give them an opportunity to donate items to us in a orderly manner. Big thanks to all at the Isle of Wight Festival for making it happen again this year...🧡

We still have two other big salvage events to come this year so there's plenty of opportunities to help out. Both events are in August, the first is Boomtown on the 18th & 19th followed by Reading on 31st August & 1st September. Volunteer sign up links below, come and join the fun..!

Boomtown - https://forms.gle/xdzehfqdVvs3Y6Vz6

Reading - https://forms.gle/eyWQ4PFoDeWZmeo17

So it's a busy time but with the backing of our amazing supporters, we'll get the job done...💪

It's been a busy few weeks for HfR recently and last week was no exception. We were back in Calais to deliver 150 tents ...
06/04/2026

It's been a busy few weeks for HfR recently and last week was no exception.

We were back in Calais to deliver 150 tents to our friends at who will distribute them to displaced people in the region.

Winter may be coming to an end but it's still bitterly cold in northern France and on average, the authorities evict the camps (destroying tents and everything in them) every two days. Many people are unaware that British tax payers fund a large part of this brutal treatment, which is factor in pushing people into the hands of smugglers and across the channel in small boats.

We'll be back with another delivery soon but the increased cost of fuel is having an impact on our activities. Please donate if you can, thank you.

Wishing a Happy Easter to all who celebrate from HfR.
05/04/2026

Wishing a Happy Easter to all who celebrate from HfR.

One week on from the march in London and we're still on a high!Being part of the largest demonstration against hate & d...
04/04/2026

One week on from the march in London and we're still on a high!

Being part of the largest demonstration against hate & division in British history was something special that will stay with us for a long time.

The tide is turning as people start to see the real enemies aren't refugees but those who are using them as scapegoats for their own ends. The huge variety of people of all backgrounds, ethnicities and faiths who came together last weekend highlighted just how much we have in common and what we can achieve if we work together.

Hate won't win...🧡

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Saint Albans

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