Hundreds of coats, tents, baby care equipment and children’s toys have been sent to help refugees in northern France, following a charity appeal.

The organisers of an autumn campaign for equipment, camping supplies, clothing, toiletries, hygiene and sanitary products and baby care necessities say they were overwhelmed by the generosity and the community spirit shown by the Manx public .

Zoe Thompson, from the Manx Support Refugees group made the appeal for donations to be sent to help refugees who are living in areas around Dunkirk and Calais, and she said that she and her fellow campaigners were overwhelmed by the items handed in.

’The response we have had this time was simply amazing,’ said Zoe.

’We’ve had coats, duvets, bedding, lots of toiletries, nappies and baby clothes.

’All of this is going over to Liverpool and, from there it is going down to Calais and will be sorted out and distributed to all the people in need.

’All I can say is thank you, thank you, thank you to all of the Manx people who have donated. This appeal is another huge success for us, and we can’t thank everyone who has donated enough.’

Zoe and her team, including Middle East expert and consultant Laura Cretney, were moved to make the appeal after a women’s refuge centre near Dunkirk caught fire, destroying valuable supplies and baby care equipment, potentially leaving hundreds of refugees in a perilous state and facing the prospect of a harsh winter without shelter.

Following the appeal, launched two weeks ago, a team of volunteers has been sorting out hundreds of coats and warm winter clothing, along with various donated items, such as nappies, baby wipes, tents and blankets.

They even received bundles of knitted toy teddy bears.

’These small bears were knitted for us by a 93-year-old lady, who heard about our appeal and just got to work on them.

’Also members of the Mother’s Union knitted these bigger bears,’ said Zoe.

’Members of the local mosque on the island got together and donated three suitcases full, ten bags and six boxes of items.

’They also had everything beautifully labelled, which made things very easy for us.

’I’m fairly sure that we have had more items donated than ever before,’ said Zoe.

’During that appeal we had over 1,300 coats donated, which is amazing.

’It is difficult to say, or to put a final total, as this time we were asking for lots of different items, and the sorting has been a little bit longer.

’But we have sorted out and processed hundreds of bags of items .

’We have had an amazing team of volunteers and as usual I couldn’t have done it without the places who offered to act as collecting points, Shakti Mann, in Ramsey, Mother T’s in Laxey and Noa Bakehouse.

’Also, we couldn’t have done this without the help of Nicky and the team at Edward Bryan removals, who have allowed us to use their warehouse and will be transporting the goods for us.’

The appeal was made shortly after Daphne Caine MHK called for the Isle of Man Government to rethink its decision to not allow a number of Syrian refugees to enter the island.

This suggestion and the Manx Support Refugees’ autumn appeal were met with a certain amount of online negativity. Zoe believes that the response to this appeal shows the best side to the Manx community.

’We were very aware that our appeal attracted a few negative comments online,’ she said.

’But we feel that this appeal has shown the positivity of the people of the Isle of Man, and it just shows how wonderful, generous and community minded the people of the island truly are.’

More information about the appeal and about Manx Support Refugees can be found on the group’s Facebook page.