Brighton Man Quits Job to Support Refugee Crisis
It all changed last summer when he saw continuous stories in the news about desperate Syrians making perilous and often fatal journeys to escape war. Paul was frustrated at Europe’s inability to give them sanctuary that he felt he had to personally do something or he would go mad. “Greece and Italy seemed too far away and there was a refugee crisis a lot closer to home in Calais, so in September I hired a van and spent a long weekend distributing clothing in the jungle.” He then spent 4 months helping to run an aid organisation with a warehouse and hundreds of volunteers while continuing to run his business in Brighton.
In April, one organiser, John Sloan, discovered a refugee camp in Greece that needed help and Paul knew he had to join. “I couldn’t continue in my comfortable life while there was such an enormous humanitarian crisis on my doorstep.” This is where the two men founded Refugee Support Europe to provide aid for the camp and support the local Greek economy. “Life is different now because I spend about 10 days a month in Greece and when I’m in Brighton I work hard recruiting volunteers, raising funds and supporting my colleagues working on the camp.” Due to the enormous demand, Paul gave up work in the UK and Refugee Support became a full-time, unpaid job.
When Paul first arrived in Alexandreia, North-east Greece, it was a derelict military base quickly converted to house refugees trapped in Greece. He arrived just two weeks after the camp had opened and the conditions were harsh. “Everyone was living in crowded tents, there were chemical toilets, the camp was prone to flooding, the food was very poor and the refugees had exhausted all their resources with very few belongings.” After witnessing the chaos in Calais, Paul and John took it upon themselves to distribute supplies differently in Greece.
Refugee Supports main priority is to place dignity into the heart of what they do, by bringing order and stability into the camp. “We have a system where people know when they can shop, it is always stocked with what they need and they are served by friendly, smiling volunteers in a pleasant, stress-free environment.” They run a free shop distributing food baskets, hygiene items and other essentials twice a week to every family. There is a clothes boutique where everyone is invited to choose their own clothing once every 3 weeks and a renovated community space for them to meet, play games, drink tea and coffee, use computers and sew. By building two classrooms, children aged between four to six can maintain an education alongside playing on the swings, see-saws and a trim trail. Donations are received and sorted at a large warehouse off-site and are in the process of creating a kitchen to provide one hot meal to every refugee, 6 days a week.
There are approximately 450 refugees residing in the Alexandreia camp and just under half are children. Four babies have been born in the camp and there are fifteen pregnant women soon to deliver. Donations to Refugee Support have given mothers the opportunity to receive rest-bite care in a local hotel with their new-born for a few days before returning to the camp.
As well as the support from Paul’s family and friends, who have spread awareness and donated computers and sought after supplies such as shoes and female leggings, Refugee Support has had more than 150 volunteers from 25 nations work between 2-3 weeks in the camp. Paul said: “We will always need volunteers,” adding, “One of the things we quickly discovered was how big-hearted and compassionate volunteers are.” However, an issue Refugee Support faces is the time it takes for donated items to arrive on camp, by then the needs will have already been satisfied or no longer there. Not only do donations help the volunteer run organisation buy essentials efficiently, Paul believes spending locally will support the Greek economy which has had its own economic crisis for the last nine years and is struggling to cope.
With the likelihood of numbers rising to 1,000 as refugees are transferred from the islands to the mainland camps, Paul expresses the urgency to respond quickly. He said: “We understand how people are constantly being bombarded with requests to help with donations and don’t want to be asked time and again to help.” But by raising awareness of the changes Refugee Support is making, he hopes to reach a much wider audience and increase the likelihood of finding people who are willing to make a one-off donation or take time out to volunteer.
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