A WOMAN from west Dorset has spoken out about feeling "threatened and intimidated" while visiting the Calais refugee camp with her daughter.

Rebecca Freiesleben and her 14-year-old daughter Catherine volunteered for Help Refugees in Calais after organising donations of clothing, bedding, toiletries, tents, cooking equipment and firewood.

Ms Freiesleben said: "The impact this experience had on us is far greater than the impact we made.

"Despite the feelgood factor and great camaraderies amongst volunteers, I was often struck by the thought that this relief operation and camp in Calais should not need to exist."

She added: "Even more distressing to contemplate is the plight of the 600 unaccompanied children residing in the camp. The youngest is only seven years old. They are at the mercy of unscrupulous traffickers and vulnerable to sexual exploitation.

"Ironically, safeguarding issues are the main reason that the British Government has been so slow to admit these children, many of whom are trying to reach relatives living in the UK."

Ms Freiesleben said her and her daughter felt threatened while volunteering at the camp.

She said: "These children need a safe, secure home, access to education and medical care, as well as emotional and psychological support.

"Whilst in Calais, we felt threatened by extreme nationalist opposition to the relief-effort, and intimidated by the heavy police presence, so goodness knows what these children are going through."

Ms Freiesleben is aiming to return to the camp next month and is hoping to enlist the support of the Bridport Chapel In The Garden.

She added: "It was a good thing to do and it is the least that one can do.

"It was nice to see so many young people there. I thought it would just be ageing hippies like me, but younger people seem to want to get involved in it.

"Catherine wants to go back and help, so we were thinking of returning during the October half term. I got involved in this with the Chapel in the Garden in Bridport who have done lots of trips to help in the kitchens in Calais."

Ms Freissleben is also hoping to undertake a government scheme which allows communities to sponsor a whole family. The scheme requires guaranteed accommodation for two years, as well as the backing of an organisation or group, along with £9,000 of funding.

"I would need to raise funding for it," she added. "I am hoping people at the church would help with that.

"It would be great to make it a Bridport thing that the whole community can become involved in."

Donations of non-perishable food, clothes and tents can be dropped off at The Chapel in the Garden on East Street.