AGROUP of friends will be heading to Calais to deliver essential supplies which have been donated by kind-hearted people in Essex.

Megan Saliu, Helen McDonald and Helen Pudmey are asking people to donate cash to help hundreds of migrants who have arrived at the French town in a bid to cross the channel and enter the UK.

Megan, 39, who lives in Colchester, said: “It’s not about a political point, it’s just about helping them.

“There are about 400 women and their children.

“The situation is apparently getting worse every day. More and more people are turning up.

“They’ve literally got nothing.

They’ve got no shelter, no food, no means of cooking.

“They are not going anywhere. They are stuck. They can’t go forward and they can’t go back.”

They will be taking a variety of items including shelter, cooking facilities and blankets.

The group met about two years ago through the Essex Feminist Collective.

Helen McDonald, 39, lives in Southend and Helen Pudmey, 43, is from Chelmsford. They came up with the idea last week and set up a funding page, Supporting Sisters, on Saturday.

In just a few days more than 100 people have donated £1,400 to their idea.

Megan, a sexual violence counsellor, said: “We’ve been overwhelmed. There are so many positive messages – so many messages of help.”

Ideally they would like cash donations, so they can bulk buy the things they need to get the best deal, but they are also taking other items.

The women will go to Calais at the end of this month and depending on donations and need, hope to make it a monthly visit.

They will use their first trip to get a better idea of what people are most in need of.

Megan said: “We want to get together as many useful donations a we can.”

For more information and to donate, visit gogetfunding.com/supportingsisters- in-calais