CamCRAG is a registered charity who organise regular weekend volunteer convoys from Cambridge to Calais. We also collect donations and funds to help refugees in Europe and beyond.
CamCRAG is a registered charity who organise regular weekend volunteer convoys from Cambridge to Calais. We also collect donations and funds to help refugees in Europe and beyond.

Volunteering

The scenes we see in the media of the refugee crisis unfolding in Europe have left many of us feeling helpless. But if we all play our part we can bring hope to the lives of those made homeless by war, persecution and oppression.
Money is always welcome – you can donate via the button on the right – but donating your time is much more valuable. It doesn’t need to be a permanent commitment – we have plenty of volunteering opportunities, ranging from regular hours every week to an hour or two when you have the time.

Join the Poncho Project

We need volunteers to cut out and/or sew ponchos for refugees, who are enduring extremely difficult weather conditions as we approach mid-winter. The ponchos we make are warm, lightweight, and dry quickly. If you can use a scissors and/or a sewing machine, you can help. See the Poncho Project for details.

Join a sorting day

We’re currently holding sorting days every week or two to keep on top of the massive quantities of donations that we receive and ship to Calais and Greece.
These are usually in a local hall on Saturdays from 11am to 3pm.
This is accessible to pretty much anyone and a great way to meet other volunteers.
We have to restrict numbers of sorters in order to sort safely.
If you’d like to take part in a sorting day then please email donations@camcrag.org.uk to find out what days are available and let us know when you’re available. Sorted.

Join a convoy

Many of our volunteers have become involved by joining one of our weekend convoys to Calais, which leave Cambridge on Friday evenings and return Sunday night. We spend Saturday and Sunday helping in a warehouse in Calais, which may involve sorting clothes, preparing food or other jobs. As Cambridge is a city of cyclists, we are always short of drivers and vehicles, so if you have a large car or minibus we’d particularly like to hear from you. Read the convoys page for more info on what’s involved, when the next one is, and how to register.

Organise a fundraiser

The best way to raise funds and awareness is to organise your own local event. It could be something small, like a village jumble sale or a cake sale in your office or school, or something more arduous, like a sponsored bike ride or mountain climb.

Over Easter 2021 we held a scavenger hunt around the city – why not organise something similar for you and your friends? Click here to see the questions and answers we posed.

CamCRAG supporter Georgina has come up with some other great ideas to get you going – click here to see them.

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Sarah Manton-Roseblade

Whatever you’re thinking of doing, email fundraising@camcrag.org.uk and we will help publicise your event, provide advice and otherwise support you as we can.

Organise a donations drop

We organise donation drops every month or so, usually in the villages of the Cambridge region. They are generally held for three or four hours on a Saturday or Sunday, allowing people to drop off aid who may find it difficult to get to our regular city drop off points. If you live in a village near Cambridge and have a Church or village hall that could be used for such an event, we would love to hear from you – have a read of the donations page and email donations@camcrag.org.uk.

Get involved

We need IT geeks, social media savvy peeps, administrators and organisers, people with vans and strong arms, writers and designers, clothes sorters, tea makers and public speakers.
If you would like to offer your skills in these or other ways we would love to keep your details on our volunteer database – please sign up online here.
If you have any questions please email volunteer@camcrag.org.uk.

Whether it’s for an hour a month or ten hours a week, you can join us to help refugees.