PEOPLE in Headington put political allegiances aside to ease the plight of refugees in Calais.

Carolyn Morningstar, a campaigner for the Green Party, filled her front room with tents, sleeping bags, clothes and food donated by her neighbours.

She and some of her dozen helpers are planning drive the thousands of pounds’ worth of aid to a central drop-off point in Slough on Sunday.

Dr Morningstar said she and the team who have run the collection for the past three weeks have been amazed by their neighbours’ generosity.

The professional writer said: “It really has been a fantastic effort throughout the community.

“It was only meant to be a very small-scale thing, so we’re delighted by the response.”

Dr Morningstar and her team posted 2,000 leaflets advertising the collection through doors in Headington and Risinghurst and advertised on Facebook and other social media.

In the end she said about 100 people made donations – some offering secondhand tents and sleeping bags, others buying new clothes and food to donate.

She added: “We had people who I don’t think would have voted Green but they liked the cause.

“The politics was secondary to the real issue.”

The collection began on September 8, when she and others at the Headington Greens group decided they could no longer sit and watch the news pictures.

But instead of just renting a van and zooming off down the A34 towards the coast, the group decided to co-ordinate their effort with other aid groups.

They contacted the national charity Calaid, which provided a list of useful things to donate like waterproof clothes and fresh underwear.

Dr Morningstar, who lives in York Road with husband Jason Smith, said: “We didn’t want to be trying to reinvent the wheel – the best intentions could have gone astray.”

Among the donations, Devon cosmetics company Natural Skincare Solutions gave a thousand bottles of skin cream.

The team will take some of those to Calais and give some to Oxfordshire homeless shelters and children’s centres.

They also got an offer from Big Yellow Self Storage to use space at its Oxford warehouse free of charge, an offer which they haven’t yet had to take up.

Dr Morningstar and her group are the latest Oxfordshire residents to take aid collection for Calais into their own hands.

Witney couple Andy and Hannah Bailey used their summer holidays to drive a car load of aid to Calais. Wallingford mum Stacey Green is organising a second trip to Calais with friends and Wantage charity champion Ray Collins is holding a collection on Sunday.

Dr Morningstar’s team will be taking their aid to a drop off point which is open to the public from 10am to 4pm on Sunday at 105 Farnham Road, Slough.