A Catholic priest has reported finding one of two warehouses belonging to the charity Care 4 Calais empty and the other barely two thirds full after visiting the migrant encampment known as "the jungle".
Fr Dominic Howarth of Our Lady and All Saints, Basildon, said "the warehouses are perilously empty" and "we have never seen it like this".
He added: "It is a far, far cry from the time last September when donations were coming in faster than warehouses could be found. The aid now is only the raw essentials – and there is nowhere near enough to meet the needs."
Fr Dominic said that the 400 blankets and 50 water butts that his party brought will "very quickly" be given to new arrivals at the camp. "Where, in all these months, have the aid agencies been? Where are they now?"
The priest said that only Médecins sans Frontières was visibly present, focused on medical aid. "In such circumstances, as the donations to these little groups dry up, food is – for the first time – becoming a significant problem."
He described how the money ran out for food at the camp, adding that this is "pitiful, hand-to-mouth aid": "We met a lady from the "Calais Kitchen" who provide 2,000 meals a day, usually in the late afternoon," he said. "They collaborate with other groups and each day take a different section of the camp. They feed 2,000 people each day – 14,000 meals each week – for 8,000 euro a week. Efficient and brilliant use of money, and absolutely vital aid. Until last Thursday when the money literally ran out. The 2,000 people due to get meals that day did not get them. They had launched an emergency appeal on social media, raised 24,000 euros, and that will keep things going for another three weeks. This is pitiful, hand-to-mouth aid."
