Mobile Refugee Support is the main NFI (non food item) NGO providing support to displaced people and refugees in the makeshift camps of Dunkirk, North France. We are present 6 days a week with a range of services and individualised distributions.

No amount is too small to contribute to our work and show solidarity to those surviving on this border.

As we move further into summer our focus remains to provide basic shelter, bedding and clothing. Although very wet weather, high winds and colder spells hit the area regularly, the weather is generally milder, and so we adapt our services a little to best serve the needs of those surviving on the border.

Equipping people with tents, sleeping bags and blankets has never been a cold weather-only thing for us.

The very basic shelter provided by a tent is a question of survival in cold weather, for sure. But beyond that, and all year round, having a shelter is key to maintaining dignity and privacy.

We would never say tents on open ground offer security. Aside from protection from the elements, they provide little to no safety from weekly evictions, targeted police violence and all the dangers associated with sleeping rough.

But a tent and bedding, even in warmer weather, is a space to keep belongings, it offers some privacy, sustains family and community links, provides some protection from the spread of ill health or disease, and still gives shelter from the elements.

We believe, above anything, that no one should have to sleep rough on the ground without shelter. Ever, in any situation, let alone while experiencing displacement.

In spring and summer our services look like this:

⛺️ Tents, summer sleeping bags and blankets for the reasons above. Equipping new arrivals and re-equipping after evictions.

👖👕🩲 Clothing, less for warmth and more to support personal hygiene. The heat and the dust and then sudden bouts of wet weather are breeding grounds for skin infections and various mites including scabies. A clean set of weather-appropriate clothes is vital.

🧼🧴🪥 Hygiene products. We distribute hygiene items on demand all year round. We have a supply with us everyday.

👟 Shoes are a vital item year-round. We offer trainers over boots in summer. Displaced people walk miles every day and the need for shoes is always higher than our stock can sustain.

📱🔋 charging of mobile phones daily with our mobile charging stations and overnight charging of power banks.

🧺 Our new laundry project, allows us to collect dirty laundry from people in camp and return it the following day clean and ready to wear again. This is crucial in maintaining people’s dignity and hygiene. It fights the spread of infections such as scabies but also in reduces the waste generated by discarded dirty clothing.

👋 Information, referrals to other organisations, a listening ear, a yes as often as we can. Our team of volunteers are present 6 days a week and it is important to us to build and maintain strong links with the communities in camp to foster trust and cater our services to best serve their needs.