La Capuche Mobilisée
La Capuche respond to clothing and shelter related needs of displaced men and unaccompanied minors at the UK/France border in Calais. We aim to do this through a cycle of services: distribution, laundry and salvage of discarded clothing items. Meanwhile, we work in collaboration with other actors at the border to challenge governments, counter systems of oppression and demand a dignified welcome for people in exile.
Who We Are
La Capuche Mobilisée was created in late 2024 to take over material distributions from an organization who was closing their project in Calais, and started operating on January 1st 2025.
La Capuche was built by former volunteers and staff of various organizations in Calais, and all our board members are present on the field. Our team is composed of permanent staff, long-term interns, and volunteers.
Our Response and Impact
Distributions
We distribute tents and bedding five times a week, through a system of individual requests via phone and an offline referral system coordinated with our partner organizations.
Each month, we distribute up to 300 tents and 600 sleeping bags.
Salvaging
Our teams take part in weekly clean-ups on informal living sites, focusing specifically on collecting abandoned clothing. These items are then washed and reintegrated into our distribution cycle.
In our first 9 months of operation, we’ve washed the equivalent of 168kgs of salvaged clothing items.
Moreover, a large part of our stock consists of material collected at festivals, where our team and partner organizations organize large salvaging operations of camping items abandoned by festivalgoers. In 2025, at least 3500 sleeping bags and 1000 tents were salvaged at festivals, sorted, and put in our stock for distribution.
Laundry
In the next year, we aim to grow our operation and offer a laundry service, giving people a possibility to wash their clothes, reduce health risks related to the absence of washing facilities, reduce waste and ultimately reduce the needs for distribution by allowing people to use their clothing items for longer.
Why We're Here
Despite the principle of unconditional access to emergency shelter under French law, the authorities offer largely insufficient solutions for the tens of thousands of people who reach the northern coast each year in the hope of reachng the United Kingdom.
Throughout the year, between 500 and 2,000 people are forced to sleep rough in and around Calais, outdoors or in abandoned buildings. In addition to failing in its legal obligations, the French State enforces a “zero point of fixation” policy, resulting in evictions from living sites on average every 48 hours. During these operations, personal belongings such as tents, blankets, and clothing are seized, destroyed, or left behind.
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What We Need
Our daily operations rely heavily on volunteers, who join us for a minimum of 4 weeks, and support with warehouse work, distributions, and litter picking activities.
La Capuche is 100% independently funded and doesn’t receive any government subsidies. A large part of our funding comes from individual donors, who support us monthly and allow us to keep our activities running on the long-term.
Consider making a donation to La Capuche and help us continue to carry out our vital work.
If you’d like to volunteer, please send an email to bonjour@lacapuche.org