LAST October a meeting was organised by the churches in Crediton, with support from other organisations such as Sustainable Crediton and Mid Devon Amnesty International Group, to discuss the Migrant Crisis in Europe and what efforts were being made locally to help refugees.

Among the people who attended that meeting were John and Sheila Eschle, members of the Mid Devon Amnesty Group. Determined to do something positive, the couple gathered support from their friends and the local community with the result being a wonderful evening of Music and Poetry at St Mary’s Anglican Church Hall, Willand, in aid of Save the Children’s Child Refugee Crisis Appeal.

The hall was set up in cafe-style; jacket potatoes and salad were served at half-time, a fantastic raffle was in operation and the bar stayed open throughout.

A total of £1,871.02 was donated to Save the Children after the event.

Before the concert, Judith Ezard, South West Community Co-ordinator for Save the Children, talked briefly about the charity’s experience of dealing with refugees for more than 100 years.

Save the Children was formed by a Shropshire Elementary School teacher named Eglantyne Jebb because she was so moved by the plight of children orphaned or separated from their parents in the aftermath of the First World War.

Save the Children were still helping children traumatised by war in 1938 when, a few weeks before Christmas, a party of 136 German children arrived in the UK after their Jewish orphanage had been burned to the ground by the Nazis.

They were the first of nearly 10,000 children who travelled to Harwich in Britain to escape persecution, facilitated by volunteers and far sighted officials, in what became known as the Kindertransport.

The Kindertransport movement is something Britain can be incredibly proud of, a beacon of light in an otherwise bleak time.

Judith explained: “As we face the biggest refugee crisis globally since World War Two, it is time to think again about how we can reach out a helping hand to those who need it most. Save the Children have called upon the Government to offer to take in up to 3,000 lone children who have made a perilous journey, walking across desert and facing hunger, torture and abuse on route.

“That call has been backed by a cross-party group of MPs on the International Development Committee, who recognised the extraordinary vulnerability of unaccompanied refugee children.

“The 3,000 was calculated as Britain’s fair share of the estimated 26,000 children who arrived in Europe in 2015 without any family. They come from Syria, Afghanistan, Eritrea and elsewhere, some of them teenagers, some as young as eight.

“Like those children arriving in Harwich in the 1930’s, many of them are escaping conflict. After hearing the call from Save the Children, organisations and individual families across the UK have come forward and offered to help.

“One charity, Homes for Good, has already registered 10,000 potential carers and adoptive parents who are ready and willing to give a refugee child a chance of building a better life.

“On the ground in Europe as temperatures plummet, Save the Children are providing hot meals, clean water, baby packages, baby snow suits, winter jackets, scarves and gloves. On the Greek Islands and in Italy they are providing Safe Spaces where toilets, beds, showers and a kitchenette are made available to families in great need.

“The UK has led the way in aid to the Syria region itself and Save the Children has been operating Child Friendly spaces in Refugee Camps there for more than five years now. But, like in those dark days of 1938, children are being forced to leave their own countries and are arriving in Europe today because they fear for their lives.

“The support of people like those who enjoyed a fantastic evening of music and poetry in Mid Devon last week means that Save the Children can continue to bring hope to those vulnerable children arriving in Europe looking for nothing more than safety, love and protection. Britain can live up to the best of our history by offering these children a better future.”

For more information about Save the Children see the website: http://www.savethechildren.org.uk/ or call Judith Ezard on telephone 01363 772502.