CAMPAIGNERS have raised hundreds of pounds for refugees after being a served a typical meal being eaten in the Jungle camp.

Team Calais, Bridport's refugee solidarity group, severed a typical Jungle meal to 70 guests who paid to dine and hear more about the reality for those seeking asylum in the UK.

The event at the Chapel in the Garden on East Street, raised a total of £915, as guests heard from after dinner speaker Sushila Dhall from Refugee Resources in Oxford.

Mr Dhall told the guests that 65.3m people are displaced worldwide, with 34,000 forced to flee every day by war, civil unrest, targeting of minorities or speaking up against oppressive regimes. The UK is home to less than one per cent of the world’s refugees.

Ms Dhall, who has worked as a counsellor with traumatised refugees and asylum seekers for the last 12 years, also detailed the kinds of journeys people make across mountain ranges and deserts in search of safety. She went on to dispel many of the myths surrounding those seeking asylum in the UK who in fact have no right to work, study, rent privately or claim benefits.

She said: "Thank you to Team Calais of Bridport for giving me the opportunity to speak about the invisible people of our times.

"It warms my heart to know that ordinary people are moved to act in the face of great injustice. My work with refugees and asylum seekers shows me how fortunate we are to have homes, choices and human rights but also how fragile these can be. The only thing stopping a culture of oppression is ordinary people like yourselves who do not stand by in silence."

Donations made towards Refugee Resource's hardship fund will directly help people in crisis this winter to meet basic unmet needs for food, essential medicines, socks, gloves, scarves and fares to visit doctors and hospitals.

Team Calais would like to thank Ourganics, Fruits of the Earth, Bridget's Market, Nina's, the Coop and Morrisons for their generous donation of ingredients and to Stir to Action for donating magazines to support the cause.

For more information about Team Calais, visit facebook.com/bridportunitarians or email events@bridportunitarians.co.uk