Volunteers from Carlisle Refugee Action Group salvaged two vans worth of camping equipment from Kendal Calling for those in need.

The group of 20 volunteers collected 100 tents, 50 sleeping bags, and other necessities from the site on Lowther Park following the weekend festival.

“Across the country, salvaging from festivals has become quite a big part of making sure that there are enough tents and sleeping bags to supply refugees in Calais, Paris, and Dunkirk for most of the year,” said James Cartwright, a volunteer for Carlisle Refugee Action Group.

“If we can avoid anything going to landfill when it could have more life then we would much rather prolong the life.”

Tents, sleeping bags, and other equipment will be taken to Calais as soon as this weekend.

Mr Cartwright said: “I’ll drive to Dover on Friday along with another volunteer from Dumfries and then we will cross to Calais on Saturday morning.

“It’s partly about providing necessities but it’s also about turning up and giving people something a bit different to their day.”

In the winter, the other van worth of salvaged equipment will be taken to the refugee camp in Greece, where people are faced with extreme conditions.

The volunteers will also be donating items to local youth groups, such as Manor House in Kendal, and to students taking part in the Duke of Edinburgh Award.

“For all those people to turn up and be willing to dive through the contents of messy tents, let alone having to pull those tents apart and cart them around in the mud, was really something.

“It was really good to see a community working together to do it,” said Mr Cartwright.

Refugee action groups can sometimes face criticism for not caring about problems such as homelessness on British streets.

Mr Cartwright believes that we don’t need to view the issues in an either-or way.

“We can’t all do everything, and it just so happens that the work my colleagues and I are doing happens to be for refugees. We would certainly be supportive of helping other people out with other projects in the UK.

“I don’t think it’s an either-or situation, rather than dividing up who we think we should be helping. It should simply be a question of finding opportunities to help and providing it.”

This is the first time that the group has salvaged necessities from Kendal Calling, they have previously done the clean-up operation at Solfest.

“It was shocking to see the amount that was left behind but we know the rain was difficult over the weekend,” commented Mr Cartwright.

“For next year, we would like to have a think about what we can do to reduce waste in the first place, as well as make sure we can salvage what is left behind.”

A video showing the scale of the rubbish left behind at Kendal Calling was viewed more than 25,000 times on Facebook with comments expressing disgust and sadness.

The festival organisers said: “We’re really pleased to have Carlisle Refugee Action Group with us for this year’s clean up to return Lowther Park to normal for the farmers and wildlife.

“We encourage attendees to take their camping equipment home, with messages within our programmes and on our Main Stage screens through the weekend, and we’re happy to be working with a charitable organisation to make use of whatever is left behind.”