A FACEBOOK appeal by a Fernhurst-based member of Guildford’s The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints helped feed and clothe refugees in Calais.

Louise Elder’s appeal for donations of food parcels, warm clothes and shoes struck an instant chord back in the early part of November.

Within 12 hours of her Facebook page appeal going live, offers flooded in and she was overwhelmed by the final total of more than 80 parcels and 46 winter coats.

Louise told The Herald: “I knew my family could put together a couple of food parcels and maybe a few coats, but I also knew the impact would be so much greater if I asked my friends and local community to join with our church and help make a difference.

“The support for this project, especially from people I had never met, was really amazing. People want to help and I was grateful for our Helping Hands programme that united us in doing so.”

Thanks to the efforts of Lousie and others, church members collected a grand total of more than 460 aid parcels by November 21. They were driven to Calais via the Chunnel that afternoon, having been packed in accordance with the guidelines received from the Care4Calais charity.

In the French port, the group of 16 church members met with Care4Calais volunteers who the distributed the parcels directly to the camp.

As a result of the terrorist attacks in Paris eight days earlier, the amount of aid reaching the camp had been severely affected – as the public mood swung against the plight of hundreds of thousands of migrants and refugees who had crossed Europe all summer and into the winter, leaving the inhabitants of the Calais camp short of food. 

Russell Ball, president of the several congregations of the church who was one of the drivers said: “Laying aside political views, there are thousands of people suffering in camps 22 miles from the English coast. 

“There are many things I don’t know about these people. What I do know is they fear their homes more than these dreadful camps, that they’re hungry and cold. The charities on the ground in Calais are desperate for more help and we will be going back.”