In Brighton, Clare Struthers saw her garage fill up within 24 hours of her offering it as one of five drop-off points in the city, and her eight Facebook friends leaped to 2,500.
In Bath, friends Ian Wood and Jonathan May have accumulated enough donations to fill an industrial storage unit, although they still need a marquee for their plan to build a kitchen in Calais. In Peebles, Tracy Owens, Sara Maciver and Joy Espie filled a horsebox and have already raised double their target to pay for diesel, so are now filling a lorry, too.
A convoy of about 15 cars from Birmingham was on the 10.50am Eurotunnel train on Saturday; later trains carried at least two vans from Glamorgan, five cars from Glasgow and "around seven" from a church in Kent which was not sure how many had joined its group. On Monday, at least 40 vehicles will be leaving from Dalston in east London.
Everyone wants to do something or give something to help people at the closest refugee camp to Britain – the "jungle" at Calais, where around 4,000 people are waiting for a chance to find a new European home.
For weeks, individuals have been packing ad hoc collections of clothes, tents, blankets and foodstuffs into the back of cars or rented vans and heading to Calais, touched by the plight of the refugees they have seen. That grassroots movement exploded last week with the pitiful death of Aylan Kurdi along with his brother and mother.
"The response has been more than I could have ever imagined," said Struthers, who put her family home forward as a donations collection point for Calais Action last week and has roped in her mum to help.
"My JustGiving page is now exceeding £7,000. It has been one of the most overwhelming and inspiring experiences of my life – people's kindness and generosity has astounded me.
"I thought I might get enough to fill a car, or maybe two. I've spend the past two days doing nothing but responding to non-stop emails, Facebook messages and texts – so much so that I had to turn off my phone. When I switched it back on a bit later, I had 69 texts and 31 voicemails."
In France , Pascal Froehly is at his wits' end. He is one of just a handful of exhausted volunteers working in the camp Secours Catholique Calais, which has a tiny team of French pensioners and one storage unit. "We are full up. We are trying to find a warehouse in Calais we can rent but at the moment there is no room," he said. "It is not that there is no need, just that there is no room.
"We're struggling. We're a handful of retired people. What we would love is for younger people to come and spend a week helping us. Most come for a few hours, drop off their boxes and leave us to sort everything out. My dream is for someone to come and take over."
The group does not even have a van, so piles of inappropriate donations are lying about. Precious space is taken up with items such as children's clothing – few young children come here – stained suits people are too proud to take, high-heel shoes and even naughty lingerie – "which used to give us a laugh but now we don't feel like laughing so much".
"I'd really like to say to people, don't come now until October," said Froehly. "But I know they will: the response has been wonderful and most people let us know they are coming, but many just turn up. We had an elderly couple the other day. They couldn't understand why they couldn't just drive up and open their car doors for people, but they could get hurt in the fuss. It's not aggression; it's desperation."
Another group begging for generosity to be matched with thoughtfulness is Doctors of the World , the only medical charity working inside the jungle. Spokesman Nick Harvey said: "If people want to help, donate. We need cash: we can buy what we need in France, medicines and equipment. And all the money goes straight to Calais, nowhere else.
"This shift in the collective consciousness is wonderful, and palpable. Usually if we have an appeal there will be a torrent of horrid abuse directed at us, but all of a sudden there's support and positivity there. It's stunning."
He added that the shift had reached Calais, too. "The number of British people coming over has definitely given the place a lift. There's a better atmosphere, somehow."
Jasmine O'Hara is from Worldwide Tribe in Calais, another grassroots social activist group responding to the crisis. She said: "People are giving cash as well, which is brilliant, easy and quick. Some people want to physically give something because it gives them a direct link to a human being in need, which is a powerful thing. Logistically, that presents a lot of challenges.
"It's been difficult to manage with storage in the UK and in Calais. So we're trying to make people be picky about what they give while still feeling, yes, they are doing something.
"What is amazing is people spreading the word, spreading our posts on social media and raising awareness that there is a crisis of desperation."
Maz Saleem is also in France this weekend. The daughter of Mohammad Saleem, who was murdered on his way to a pray at a Birmingham mosque in April 2013, she is with others from campaign group Stand Up to Racism.
"We're taking tables and stewards' jackets to do our own distribution, but we'll also be taking messages of solidarity to our brothers and sisters in the camp.
"What is happening now with the refugees creates images we will remember for the rest of our lives. How we respond will live with us too. That's why people want so much to reach out."
source: guardian.co.uk
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