Bournemouth residents offer their support to Afghan refugees

Ross Donaldson, started the collection after posting on the Southbourne Community Facebook page, asking if anyone was taking clothes donations for refugees. The post received an overwhelming response from the community and Ross decided to become a local representative for national charity Care4Calais so he could arrange a clothing drive for people to donate to.

He said: "I was watching the news and a nine-year-old child had fallen out of the window of the hotel where they were saying and it made me think about what to do. So, I put up a post, people started to message and the response has been amazing.

"It's been non stop, there's only been two of us here volunteering when items come in and Brian and I have stacked up the entire back of the church, we're almost overrun with the compassion being shown by the local community.

"25-50 cars have come in each day and we're only on day three, this morning we've had a load in already."

"A lot of people are asking when this will stop but we're not stopping, this crisis is not going away but we need support from the mayor, the government and the councils to open their hearts and minds to what we're doing and coordination from them as well."

One van full of items has already been taken to Birmingham by volunteer Brian Platt who helped coordinate the event despite having two slipped discs in his spine.

He said: "Ross kicked it all off on Facebook and I saw it and I'm self-employed with a big van and I said if you need anything to go anywhere in a van then let me know because I've got no work on at the moment, so I can make the most of it.

"So I came down to help and I've been helping receive stuff and talking to the children who have brought their toys.

"One little girl who brought a lovely white polar bear said to me 'I've got lots of toys and this is one of lots of toys but to somebody out there it may be one of one, so it will mean a lot more.'

"She was happy to give it up so she gave it one last cuddle.

"Another lady who came in had lost her husband about three months ago, she saw the post on Facebook and she said 'I haven't touched my husbands stuff but I knew that he would want his stuff to come here' so she bit the bullet and bought it all in and she said 'it's a weight off my shoulders, I can start to re-live my life now', so it's been amazing."

Due to the large number of people that have come forward to donate, the Mayor of Bournemouth councillor David Kelsey and councillor Bobbie Dove went down to the church to discuss providing extra space and volunteers for the cause.

Councillor Bobbie Dove said: "Local authorities across the country are working with the Home Office and local partners to assist Afghan families moving to the UK to re-settle as part of the Government's Afghan Relocation and Assistance Policy programme.

"As part of this BCP Council is working alongside the Government, NHS, support providers and local charities to understand how we can best help those forced to flee their homes.

"In the interim we are working in partnership with a fantastic group of volunteers at Immanuel Church to expand their ability to receive, sort and redistribute donations so generously brought to them.

"We have asked for volunteers to come forward and help with these tasks and will be identifying further collection points across BCP in the coming days.

"Public support has been phenomenal and we thank everyone for their kindness but we still need volunteers to help receive these donations and drivers to help with getting items to the families.

"All good quality donations are well received but there is an especially high need for items to support younger refugees, including baby clothes, bedding, prams and non-military toys."

The Mayor of Bournemouth Councillor David Kelsey said: "We are looking at it, there was a meeting yesterday with housing and the government will say what they want us to do, as well but obviously we will do as much as we can to help everybody.

"If housing is needed and we have it, we will help, we will help with education, with health, we're open for business here and we're encouraging things like this to be done, its really important that local people can help.

"I think for local people, if you just take a step back and put yourself in the position of these people and say would I like to be in that position, would I like to be not able to go to school, not get educated, not have a job and it will help you to think then what these children are like, what the families are like and what they're going through.

"I think its really important that we then step back and say we can help, I know we have our home problems in this country but we can't turn a blind eye to everything that is going on everywhere else so its really important that we as a community here in Bournemouth, Poole and Christchurch, help these people when they need it.

"At the end of the day, a lot of these people that are coming in have saved lives by doing the work they've done in Afghanistan, so it's important now that we then help them.

"There comes a time where you have to pay back and now is our time to pay back."

Donations can be dropped off at Immanuel Church, 120 Southbourne Road, BH6 3QJ between 9am-3pm every day this week (August 23-27).