On what will no doubt be a calm, dewy Monday morning in Stradbally, festival-goers will be emerging into the hard realities of the looming work-week.

The weekend of fun and music may seem a million miles away from the shocking scenes in Budapest, Calais and Greece, but a few volunteers will be using the morning to gather supplies for refugees struggling to get by in Calais' notorious Jungle camp.

Up to 50,000 people expected to attend the country's largest music festival, and many will leave behind tents, sleeping bags and other camping equipment.

Festival organisers are co-ordinating with a number of charities and volunteer organisations to make sure these do not go to waste.

At 10am Monday at the Global Green and at info points in each campsite, volunteers will begin accepting donations of camping supplies and will remain throughout the afternoon, dismantling any left behind tents to send to refugees seeking shelter near the port of Calais.

Those involved would appreciate people taking a few minutes to collapse their tents before donating them.

Moved to action

Tracey Ryan says that only a few weeks ago she was looking at images online and felt she needed to do something to help.

She spoke with a few of her friends about gathering money to send a few boxes of supplies. Word spread quickly through social media, and soon she realised it would be far more than a few.

Within only a few days the Cork Calais Refugee Solidarity Facebook group she had set up reached 800 members, who were willing to donate time and money to the cause. 

There are already between 25 and 30 collection points across the country for those willing to donate supplies, and Stena Line and road haulage firm Nolan Transport have offered their services to bring them to the French port.

"There are issues at home like the housing crisis, but people look at images and know it's in a league of its own. They just want to do something and... people have been very generous."

How you can help

Tracey encourages people to join the Facebook group and look for their local donation point. There is also a GoFundMe page, which has already raised over €12,000 through public donations.

Other charities also have online appeals, including the Unicef Syria Appeal, Red Cross Syria Crisis Appeal and Islamic Relief Syria Crisis Appeal.

Refugee Action Appeal offers a number of ways to donate, including giving old cars and printer cartridges.

For those who wish to show solidarity and call for Ireland to take in more refugees, a march will take place in Dublin on September 12.

An online petition directed at Taoiseach Enda Kenny has almost reached its goal of 15,000 signatures.