My Story

My name is Jess - I am a circus performer and love to use circus and performance for as much good as possible! I have volunteered with Performers Without Borders (PWB) in Nicaragu and Kenya and started the PWB Calais tour with my faithful friend and performer buddy, Chez.

Chez and I have been visiting Calais & Dunkirk twice a year with PWB since Chirstmas 2017. Over the years we have been working closely with our partner orgnisations Refugee Youth Service, Women and Childrens Centre, Help Refugees, and now, Project Play. Our mission is to create smiles for displaced children, youth and often adults in the Calais & Dunkirk area. The young people we work with are often living through the trauma of trying to find a safe place to call home. We use circus, music, games, play and performance to bring some lightness to the heavieness that is being displaced and transient.

On our way, we also collect donations for Help Refugees and hope to turn-up with a van-load of needed resources. The money I am raising will go towards equipment, my travel costs (approximatley £150 from North Wales & back), accomodation (£50 total for the week), some food to share with the team. The rest of the funds we aim to raise will be donated to our main partner organisations. If we raise beyond the target, this money will be kept for our next mission in Spring 2020.

The Situation In Calais

Refugees journey to Calais and Dunkirk aiming to cross to the UK. There are still many attempts to make the crossing. There is now much less support for refugees while they are living in Calais. There are a few small accomodation centres but most people do not have any where to stay. People have to find hidden spaces to sleep and often come into conflict with the police who confiscate tents, sleeping bags, mobile phones etc. There are still organisations working to support refugees with the resources they need to survive, tents, clothes, food, fire wood etc. There are also organisations providing spaces for refugees to use during the day offering various services. 

Partner Organisations:

Refugee Youth Service https://www.refugeeyouthservice.net/

Through this service we work with mainly teenagers and mainly males. We go out on 'the field' with them and often they bring us teens who may want to engage with activities.

The Women and Children's Service and Project Play https://www.facebook.com/projectplayfrance/

Project play work with children age 0-15yrs in a few different accomodation centres and some less established social centres

Secours Catholoque https://www.secours-catholique.org/

A day centre for refugees to get warm and dry and charge phones. Many activities are offered there, we usually go once or twice to bring a little something extra to the outside space for those who want to opt in. We are there mainly for the youth but adults often join in too.

School Bus Project https://www.facebook.com/groups/296832694286282/