The Presqu'île is where we gather on Mondays and Wednesdays. A disused industrial area covering the peninsula between the river and the canal, it is home for a large portion of the city’s displaced people. We meet in a loading bay with the permission of a local business owner, and it makes a great environment for us to hang out and build relationships with the groups we work with. It is a long term goal to create a permanent base for SOS on the Presqu'île, where we can support the refugees and see the area transformed

Firstly, we arrive and unpack the van - this means putting out the tables and stools and hot drinks. Then we serve the food and sometimes give out donations and kits. Throughout the night, there will be games on the tables which our volunteers sit down and play, giving a chance to chat and build friendships.

We have a lovely group of ladies from Livarot preparing the food, and on Monday it’s prepared by our team members in Caen. We aim to provide a tasty and nutritious meal, alongside fruit, cake and tea & coffee. Our meals are served in a wrap, and span across currys and chillis, and we’re constantly on the look-out for more recipes.

In addition to distributing food, we also provide French and English language support. Two afternoons a week we meet with a smaller group to make progress and we’ve found it has been a great opportunity to meet and connect with them.

Down at the Port of Ouistreham there are a large group of migrants who camp in the bushes. We are trying to go down as much as we can and try to distribute clothes and necessities to this group. The first time we went we took Tea and Coffee, along with a “Field Kit” – this was a mix of the Fresh Kit and savoury food.

After chatting with them, we found out that the locals supply an amazing amount of support, supplying hot food almost every day. So we decided to try and help them keep warm whilst surviving outside in the winter – this comes in the form of warm clothes, layers for sleeping, and whatever else is available at the time.

To distribute supplies & donations in the smoothest and most efficient way possible, we focus on making up Kits. We currently give out Fresh Kits every 3 weeks; inside each kit is a bottle of shower gel, a toothbrush, toothpaste, a razor, a packet of tissues and breakfast biscuits.

We are also very, very, very excited to be giving out our brand new Cold Kits this winter, containing a thermal underlayer, a hat, a coat, a pair of socks and gloves. We have lots of ideas with Kits and hope to have them included in the structure of SOS.