Day1

Monday 24th October

Myself and Logic met the young people at Kingswood community centre in Corby, where we briefed them on the day trip, advising them that we may be able to enter the jungle as today, the government would be moving a lot of the refugees to other places in France. We made sure everyone was prepared to be turnt away at the border.

The young people had been watching the News reports on this and were mature enough to understand this is an uncertain trip but were calm and level headed. I had made contact with Volunteers working in Jungle Books a month previous, asking if we could also come help volunteer with reading, writing and also speaking to the refugees about their experiences. They were happy for us to do so.

I reached out to them after to see if the schools would still be running, as they were demolishing parts of the jungle, to be sure our visit would be secure…of course nobody could guarantee this.

It wasn't until we actually got through border control in France when my contact in Jungle books called to say there were hundreds of police around the jungle and everyone was being moved…the jungle was being demolished. We drove past the jungle as all entrances were blocked off but we could see through the fence.

As soon as we all saw this, the young people who were previously very excited to be travelling here, began to become shocked as to what they could see...how these human beings fleeing war, were being treated and the conditions they were surviving in. Reality had set in for a lot of them, who had never seen such a thing. We continued to travel around Calais, speaking to locals.

Before we left, road blocks were open and we were able to access parts of the jungle. We got to see the school that we were to volunteer at, the church that was built and how they were living. They got to see, feel and smell the environment for themselves to truly get an idea of how they could compare their lives to a refugee. The young people were taking down notes. Asking myself and Logic what countries did they flee and why, we said this is something they must research at the library. We also stopped off at a few abandoned buildings where some refugees had been taking shelter.

I choose to bring the young people to Calais as I knew it would inspire them.