A GROUP of South Lakeland musicians are organising collections of essential supplies to send to the refugee camps near Calais.

They will be busking and leafleting on the streets of Kendal, and are asking anyone who can donate boots and shoes and waterproof jackets to contact them so that they can arrange collection and shipping to the camps. All donations will be sorted and packed in boxes for transport to Calais.

Ambleside musician Olivia Fern has just returned from working as a volunteer in the refugee camps near Calais, where she was moved by the harsh conditions and the suffering of the people there.

“It's hard to believe that just an hour’s ferry drive from Dover and just one hour by train from London, there is a humanitarian crisis," said Olivia. "Literally on our doorstep people who have fled war and persecution are living in leaking tents, with no heating supply, in the middle of winter.

"Their basic needs being met is down to ordinary people now as due to the political situation no major aid organisations are currently allowed to be involved. We've had a very mild winter so far but the coldest period is yet to come for those living in their makeshift tents on the coast of France, and due to this the people in Calais need our support now more than ever.

"What became clear to me during my time there was just how hand to mouth the situation is in terms of supplies and people power. People being warm and having enough food really is dependent upon a continual stream of donations and volunteers. From day to day it's not a sure thing that they will have enough to meet people's basic needs. Truly, anything we can give, whether food, clothing, time or money, will make a huge difference!"

Kendal musicians and record producers Bill and Ali Lloyd have joined forces with Olivia and other local musicians, including the Cumbria Gaita Band, who play bagpipe music on Galician bagpipes, to organise local collections and packing of essential items.

“British people have many different opinions about the politics of the refugee crisis, but we are focussing on the humanitarian suffering," said Mr Lloyd. "There are thousands of people stuck in Calais with nowhere else to go. Most of these people have been bombed and frightened out of their homes, in fear of their lives, and they have given up what little they had to try to save their own children.

It is tragic, but our fear of terrorism, and now our fear of sex assaults and thieving, has added to the old fears about immigrants taking our jobs and our houses. These fears are real, and there is no point in pretending otherwise, but the fear obscures the fact that a few troublemakers dominate the news, while there are many people including women and children in these camps who have nothing - no homes, no bed to lie on, not even waterproof clothes - and who do not know when they will next get a meal."