Sleeping bags
Migrants in Europe often do not have access to essential resources, like a dignified place to sleep. They are surviving in forests and fields, in squats and informal camps. Police regularly raids these camps, destroying tents, sleeping bags and other personal belongings. Police violence during these raids is common.
There is a striking contrast between migrants’ need for essential stuff, and the incredible negligence with which festival-goers leave the campsite after the weekend is done. The amount of waste is staggering. People leave tents, bags, clothing, pots, pans and other cooking items.
We got in touch with the festival organisation to see what we could salvage. Initially, our volunteer team’s aim was to collect sleeping bags from the ‘glampsite’, where festival-goers are offered completely furnished tents. When the festival is done, they can either take their sleeping bag home or donate them (to us!). But when we saw what got left behind on the regular campsite, we extended our mission.
Last year at Down the Rabbit Hole and Lowlands, our volunteers collected over 4000 sleeping bags, as well as clothes, gas burners, 120 tents and around a hundred pots and pens. We sent these items to organisations like Mobile Refugee Support (RMS), who work to guarantee basic needs for people on the move in Europe.
A big thank you to all our volunteers, to the festival organization which allowed us to collect the goods, and to the amazing groups and collectives struggling to keep people warm and dry on Europe's borders.
Do you have excess goods that can be used in squats or camps?
Through our contacts at Lowlands festival, we were recently able to send about 150 beds and mattresses to squats in Brussels. Do you have useful (bulk) leftovers for squats or camps? Send us an email at info@migreat.org.
There is a striking contrast between migrants’ need for essential stuff, and the incredible negligence with which festival-goers leave the campsite after the weekend is done. The amount of waste is staggering. People leave tents, bags, clothing, pots, pans and other cooking items.
We got in touch with the festival organisation to see what we could salvage. Initially, our volunteer team’s aim was to collect sleeping bags from the ‘glampsite’, where festival-goers are offered completely furnished tents. When the festival is done, they can either take their sleeping bag home or donate them (to us!). But when we saw what got left behind on the regular campsite, we extended our mission.
Last year at Down the Rabbit Hole and Lowlands, our volunteers collected over 4000 sleeping bags, as well as clothes, gas burners, 120 tents and around a hundred pots and pens. We sent these items to organisations like Mobile Refugee Support (RMS), who work to guarantee basic needs for people on the move in Europe.
A big thank you to all our volunteers, to the festival organization which allowed us to collect the goods, and to the amazing groups and collectives struggling to keep people warm and dry on Europe's borders.
Do you have excess goods that can be used in squats or camps?
Through our contacts at Lowlands festival, we were recently able to send about 150 beds and mattresses to squats in Brussels. Do you have useful (bulk) leftovers for squats or camps? Send us an email at info@migreat.org.