Beginnings 2015-16

Maria Skobtsova House opened in Calais at the beginning of February 2016. It started as a house for volunteers who worked amongst the refugees in the ‘Jungle’ camp of Calais. Brother Johannes Maertens, a monk of the Old Catholic religious order, and one of the founders of the house, writes:  

‘When we started working in Calais in October 2015, between 4000-5000 refugees were living in 'the Jungle'. At the end of the camp, almost 10.000 refugees were living there. Maria Skobtsova House provided emergency accommodation for the most vulnerable from the refugees in the Jungle. Many of the refugees that came through the house decided to stay and ask asylum in France. Others moved through family reunification to the UK. Long term guests in the house came from the local hospital and needed time to recover. From this work grew the Hospital Volunteer Team who several times a week visited and aided refugees in the local hospitals of Calais or Lille.”

2016-2017

“In October 2016, with the imminent closure of the Calais Jungle, the UK Government agreed to admit unaccompanied minors who would otherwise be left stranded. Quickly after the closure, the UK withdrew its promise, and numbers of young people began to drift back to Calais from the accommodation centres across France where they had been placed by the French authorities. Humanitarian charities initiated a programme trying to provide food and shelter for them against a firm determination of the authorities not to allow a build-up of the camp as before. Maria Skobtsova House began welcoming as many youngsters as possible, either giving them accommodation or welcoming them daily into the house for showers, a change of clothes, food or simply a place to be off the streets.”

2017-2018

The models ‘Axum Obelisks’, ‘Lorry Crossing the Sahara’ and ‘Boat Crossing the Mediterranean’ were made by guests working with Art Refuge, who support displaced people through art making and art therapy, during one of their regular visits to the house 2017-18.

Farewell Br. Johannes June 2019

Dear friends, after serving more than three and a half years for Maria Skobtsova House and amongst the refugees in Calais (and the UK) the time has come for me to take a long break and leave. The times with all of you has been such a blessing and together with many volunteers we were able to help so many people. The house will continue doing so with current and future volunteers. Please keep supporting and praying for the house! yours faithfully, Johannes

Rev. Canon Kirrilee Reid,, Pas de Calais Anglican chaplain and refugee projects officer, took on, in addition to these roles, the management of Maria Skobtsova House following the departure of Br. Johannes. In July 2020, after a year of supporting guests and volunteers in the house, she left France and returned to Scotland.

2019 and on….A Change of Tone

In 2019, with increasing numbers of women and families with children arriving in Calais. the focus of the house shifted towards offering safe sanctuary to these particularly vulnerable groups.