A MAN living in Launceston, appalled by the refugee crisis, says he will not stop trying to help.

Rob Butler, who lives at Hurdon Way, has already been to France four times this year to help distribute aid.

His most recent trip over the bank holiday weekend took him to Dunkirk, where he said men, women and children are living in woods.

But it is not just the distribution of aid Rob is involved with. He has worked with all charities in Cornwall, including Open Hearts Open Borders and Wadebridge Refugee Aid, and tirelessly collects donations, transporting them with his transit van.

He expressed his gratitude to his bosses — he works as a driver for FedEx, which allows him to collect aid, and his bosses let him store aid as well.

His efforts collecting at Dingley Hall in Launceston on behalf of his friend’s NGO Mobile Refugee Support (MRS) earlier this month helped fill a 40ft container of aid, which went to Greece on Saturday.

Launceston was one of many donation stations across Cornwall and Devon.

Before his latest trip to France, Rob was part of a team who cleared up after the Boardmasters Festival near Newquay. Among the items Rob brought back were 300 sleeping bags.

He reached out on Facebook to see if anyone could help wash and dry them, and was thrilled with the response of Launceston residents. Ten people on his estate alone, he said, offered to help, and all you could see that day on Hurdon Way was sleeping bags drying outside.

He said: “What Cornwall’s done is absolutely unbelievable. People around Launceston, Bude, Wadebridge have helped thousands of people. The aid just from [the Boardmasters Festival clear-up] helped about 600 or 700 people.

“When I did the clear-up from Boardmasters I got back to my house, my transit van was filled up with camping equipment. I whacked out an appeal on my own Facebook and had people all over Launceston washing and drying sleeping bags. It was a real rush to get everything cleaned and dry.

“That’s people from local areas stepping up to the plate and helping. It’s just a little thing, but they have kept someone warm at night.

“Somebody just buying a £1 box of cereal bars — that to them is insignificant but that’s allowed us to give six people a bit of food. The small things make a massive difference.”

Rob said of his latest trip to Dunkirk: “It was difficult, and there were an incredible amount of kids. There are no official camps now.

“You’ve most probably got about 550 Kurdish people sleeping in woods — men, women and children.”

He said people with relatives in the UK, or who speak good English, want to come over here but ‘any country that takes your fingerprint is the country you take asylum in’. Rob claims the refugees are being ‘badly treated’ by the French authorities.

In Calais, he said, people are seeking refuge from Sudan, Somalia and Eritrea, countries affected by civil war and poverty.

“You don’t become hardened to it,” he added. “You feel a little bit guilty — I’m sat here in my warm house and babies eight or nine months old are in the woods.”

The reaction he gets from those he helps is rewarding. Someone recently told him ‘what you do restores our faith in the human race’.

“It’s heartbreaking and it rips your heart to shreds. It can be difficult but rewarding at the same time.”

The 43-year-old said of his motivation behind wanting to help: “I didn’t pay much attention to what was going on in the world. I turned 40 and looking at situations in the world — it bothered me.

“What sort of future do my kids have, what are they growing up into, what sort of example am I setting for my kids?

“I just wanted to do more. As you get older you read a bit more and you don’t believe what you are told on the news.”

He criticised the British Government, adding: “I wanted to go and help as a small way of saying sorry to people.”

And he’s determined to continue to help: “I won’t stop, there’s always going to be something somewhere.

“You wouldn’t believe the generosity of people. I get little old ladies from Launceston buying bags of shopping and dropping them up at my house. There’s a lot of good people around in our community.”

He will go over to France again in October and said their focus is now on collecting warm and waterproof clothing ahead of winter.

Anyone who wishes to donate items is encouraged to check the Facebook page for the Launceston Refugee Support Group to see what is needed.

The drop-off point for donated items is every Tuesday at the Central Methodist Church from 10am to 12pm. Anyone with items to donate can also call Rob direct on 07812 585002.