A SUNSHINE holiday turned into an aid mission for one York group who then turned the experience into charity work helping desperate refugees.

Leigh Bell and Cathie Heart went to Lesbos with family in September last year, intending to spend their time waterskiing, sailing, and enjoying the sunshine.

Leigh said: "What we ended up doing was sharing our holiday with a lot of people we did not expect."

Leigh, Cathie and their group soon found themselves meeting boats refugee on the beach, helping cold and exhausted people out of the water, and distributing hot drinks and help.

York Press:

Leigh Bell

Leigh added: "As a family we just felt we couldn't walk away.

"I had imagined most of the people would be young fit men looking for work, but the people we met were children, families and old ladies. They were very ordinary families, just like us, and we chatted to them and learnt about their lives."

Mobile phones were a lifeline for many, Leigh added, containing contacts for friends and family and photographs of the lives they had left behind.

The refugees they met showed Leigh many "before and after" pictures of their family homes in pleasant neighbourhoods, which were then flattened and destroyed by bombs.

The pair have been back to help since, going in the winter and to the large camps around Idomeni, on the Macedonian border.
They have also teamed up with aid workers Jenni James and Trace Myers to keep helping in the long term through charity Refugee START.

At the moment, they are gathering new underwear to distribute to women stranded in the camps with no clean clothes and limited access to sanitation.

While volunteers and aid agencies give out clean clothes, Leigh and her colleagues saw them having to turn away women as they could provide no fresh underwear.

"Imagine 4000 women living in tents, and no new pants," she said.
They have also been joined by Trace's sister Wendy Myers and York man Mick Thomas.

Information about Refugee START and how to donate is at www.refugees-start.co.uk