10 Mar Some days in Calais, France
From St Ouen l’Aumône, France, we would like to share an experience we had as a community: from January 22 to 27, 2025, we were in Calais..
Where is Calais?
Located in northern France, it is the closest point to England and an area where many migrants attempt to cross the Channel illegally to reach the United Kingdom.
Why did we go to Calais?
We had a dual purpose: on the one hand, to have a community experience of serving migrants; and on the other, to continue exploring possibilities for organizing a pastoral experience with young people in the summer of 2025.
Where did we stay (and where could young people stay)?
As in the summer, we were welcomed by the Scalabrinian Missionaries, who run the parish in Calais. We stayed at the parish center, a spacious place with a kitchen, two meeting rooms, a chapel, bathrooms, and a shower. There is also a large outdoor courtyard, although we have already experienced that it can be cold in Calais all year round…
Sharing life and mission…
The three Scalabrinian priests, two from Haiti and one from Vietnam, welcomed us warmly and are delighted that we can offer an experience for young people there. While their charism is migration, their parish duties leave them little time to directly care for migrants. However, they run an association that manages a temporary shelter for men and support various parish activities (especially with the homeless). The parish also has a very intense spiritual life, with adoration every morning at 7 AM, two daily Masses, and more.
We also met the “Auxiliatrices” sisters, a congregation with Ignatian spirituality, who have been in Calais for eight years. Françoise and Anne-Laurence, both French, and Maria Vittoria, an Italian, shared their mission with us: working with Secours Catholique (Caritas France) and running a small shelter for volunteers. They are happy that we are coming and are willing to support us however they can. So much help! So much to be grateful for!
Our daily life in Calais…
After our experience last summer, we had chosen TWO ASSOCIATIONS with which to collaborate directly as volunteers. Although we didn’t have much time, we spent two days at each one, allowing us to see what is being done and what we could offer to young people. Personally, it was also a great joy to experience these days of service, making life a little happier (or at least “lighter”!) for the migrants in Calais.
REFUGEE COMMUNITY KITCHEN: Cooking and distributing meals to migrants
“We are volunteers. We chop. We mix. We serve. We believe that food is a human right. Everyone deserves the kind of meals we would want on our own tables.” This is how this UK-based association, founded in 2015, introduces itself on its website.
For two days, that’s exactly what we did: chopping vegetables, peeling onions, preparing meals… and washing dishes, lots of dishes! All of this in a relaxed, welcoming, and joyful atmosphere, among volunteers of all ages, backgrounds, and life stories. It was amazing!
One thing united us:
The desire to SERVE—without judgment or conditions—the migrants living in the camps. This winter, they prepare an average of 800 meals per day… but in the summer, they have reached 3,000! In the afternoon, some volunteers go out to distribute hot meals to the people.
Find out more : https://refugeecommunitykitchen.org/
CARE 4 CALAIS: Distributing essentials and creating a “living space” for migrants
Around 900 refugees currently living in and around Calais sleep outdoors in harsh conditions. The French police, funded by the UK government, regularly confiscate their sleeping bags and belongings (on average, every 48 hours, to prevent the camps from becoming permanent).
Care 4 Calais, another UK-based organization, distributes essential supplies like clothing, shoes, sleeping bags, and hygiene products in an efficient, well-organized, and above all, dignified manner. Each distribution lasts 2.5 hours daily—and happens no matter what, even in heavy rain, as we experienced. Around this activity, a true “refuge of life” is created for migrants: a mobile hair salon, hot tea and coffee, board games, an area to learn English, and even an improvised football field in the middle of the neighborhood. Everything is designed to offer a little dignity to those who wait faithfully for the vans to arrive.
Distributions take place in the afternoon, while each morning, volunteers gather at the warehouse to carefully clean all the equipment used the previous day, ensuring everything is clean and ready for new users. A beautiful experience of the “culture of care,” which we continue to deepen in our Institute!
Find out more: https://care4calais.org/
What’s next?
After this experience, our desire is even stronger to offer young people in Europe—in collaboration with the European Human Mobility group—the opportunity to serve and be evangelized through direct contact with migrants in Calais.
With the support of the priests and the Auxiliatrices community, we are finalizing the details to offer a complete experience of prayer and service, “in our way.” More information will follow soon, but you can already start thinking of specific people (university students and young adults) whom you would like to challenge to join this project (in July)… and hopefully, you too can come! Whether in the summer or another time, to see and experience this reality firsthand. And please, pray for this experience so that it may be OF GOD!
The community of St Ouen l’Aumône
© Jess Hurd
