Care4Calais | Connected Voice

Name of organisation

Care4Calais (North East)

Tell us about your organisation (history, aims, vision):

Care4Calais is a volunteer-run charity delivering essential aid and support to refugees and asylum seekers living in the UK, Northern France and Belgium. We believe in a fair and tolerant Britain and advocate for a welcoming and inclusive attitude towards refugees.

In Calais, our focus is to provide warm clothing, bedding and food to those in need. In the UK, we provide clothing, snacks and a friendly face for asylum seekers who are housed but face a lengthy wait, and who cannot work before their claim is processed.

We also have a legal access team who can help with navigating the asylum system, from general paperwork and age dispute claims to signposting to specialist solicitors, and more.

Who do you serve? How do they access services?

Asylum seekers and those with newly granted refugee status can access our services. They can self-refer to us or be referred by an organisation by contacting northeast@care4calais.org.

We deliver to both hotels and dispersal accommodation.

What are your current projects or services?

We are currently focused on the immediate needs of our asylum seekers. We provide clothes, fundraise for technology (phones, laptops, tablets) and support service users with general enquiries/advice. We also signpost to other organisations when we can't help.

We've previously run activities and done larger scale distributions, but are currently low on volunteer capacity.