Herbalists without Borders Calais Training this September

For folks who follow the Solidarity Apothecary, you’ll know that I am actively involved in Herbalists without Borders Calais and our refugee support work in France. We are organising a new training weekend this September as a way to support more people to get involved.

See the full details here: https://hwbcalais.org/training/

About the Training

The Herbalists without Borders Calais Campaign is a dedicated mobile clinic that endeavours to take place in Calais and Dunkirk in Northern France every month. Since October 2019, we have supported more than 4335 refugees. The clinic offers preventative medicine, self-care support, first aid, healthcare access support and advocacy to hundreds of refugees and undocumented migrants living in the region. Our medicines are made by local grassroots groups and herbalists across the UK.

The team needs at least four volunteers every month to run the week-long clinic. Within this team, there must always be a Clinical Supervisor with a minimum of 5-years experience, two Herbal First Aiders that manage first aid and wound care, as well as a logistical assistant that organises the inventory and other practical tasks. Learn more about these roles here.

We recognise that the skill-set needed to deliver herbal first aid in this refugee camp context may be outside the comfort zone of ordinary practice for some. However we believe the skills required and gained by working in the field in Calais contribute to the broader skill set of a confident rounded herbalist who can deliver in many different contexts and scenarios. We have created this blended learning program as part of our Solidarity Audit; it reflects our commitment to clinical excellence and conscious practice.

The programme combines a 3 day face-to-face practical intensive with content from each of the modules as well as online content. This includes suggested readings, films and podcasts, as well as exercises for reflection. Our intention is to have this first face-to-face intensive as a prototype. Learning from this, longer-term we will create online course videos that create the opportunity for volunteers to study online.

We endeavour to launch the initial online content of the programme on the 15th August 2021. The face-to-face practical intensive will take place on the weekend of 11th-13th September 2021 at a site in Somerset.

Unfortunately, due to Covid-19, the number of people safely able to attend the face-to-face element is sadly restricted. Places will therefore be prioritised for people able to commit to volunteering in Calais through the winter of 2021/2022. People unable to attend the intensive are still welcome to enrol in the online aspects of the training.

Interested in the training? Please register your expression of interest here: https://forms.gle/NY8Zf3XhsRRqDCBN6