Charlotte has long, fair hair and is smiling at the camera

16 June 2026

Solidarity is ‘coming come’

As the World Cup kicks off, Care4Calais's Charlotte reflects on the talent of a young Kurdish boy she's worked with. She also counters some myths and explains what you can do to show solidarity with refugees.

This year's Refugee Week coincides with the beginning of the World Cup. And I’m very excited to watch teams proudly represent their nations over the next few weeks.

The tournament and its cast of global sporting superstars have, however, made me think of someone, a kid I know who is really good at football. I first met him aged 9. He's now 15 and his skills are impressive - he plays for a youth team, and his tricks have me in awe. I asked him why he loves football. He said it makes him feel alive and part of something big and important.

My young friend is the oldest child of a Kurdish family I met days after they arrived as refugees in the UK. Watching this family pull together, and rebuild their lives here after such hardship, has been a privilege, one which has somehow left me more in awe than the football tricks.

If he keeps practising hard, who knows - maybe my friend will play for England one day? Maybe he'll be like the German footballer Antonio Rudiger, whose parents fled the war in Sierra Leone and resettled in Germany.

"It’s not that people are seeking refuge because they want to - no, because they have to," Rudiger once said. "They have no other choice. Because this happened to my family I can understand those people and feel with them."

Some folk genuinely believe all refugees are choosing the UK. The reality is the vast majority of the world's displaced people remain in countries neighbouring their own, and refugees and people claiming asylum make up less than 1% of the UK's total population.

Others have been told that people are choosing to use small boats as opposed to some ‘better’ way. The stark truth is, there is no alternative way to claim asylum in the UK for the vast majority of people. That’s not a choice.

This Refugee Week, my wish is that each of us sees the human behind the labels - refugee, people seeking asylum - and realise that we are not different.

In this wild world we live in, people are told to blame their neighbours - rather than billionaires - for bleeding the NHS dry and underfunding social housing.

This toxic political atmosphere can feel overwhelming at times. But there are ways we can counter misinformation and challenge the grifters who treat us all like fools.

Volunteering with refugees is one of the most rewarding things I've ever done. We have opportunities in France and also closer to home. Why not organise a workplace/union branch trip? Maybe you can fundraise or collect donations to help support our work? Or maybe you are ready to interrupt those misinformed conversations you hear - at work, down the pub, the cafe, the gym?

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