A young musician is devoting his time to helping migrants in Calais.

Jay Burgess, from Biddenden, is staying in the area known as The Jungle, where thousands of refugees are living in squalid conditions.

He is helping to hand out supplies, and giving advice and information.

Jay, 24, said: “The migrant crisis is the drama of my generation. It is such a massive crisis.

“I came to The Jungle for five days two weeks ago then went home but came back and am here for at least five weeks or more.”

Jay is living in a caravan and financing his stay with his own money. He has set up a gofundme page with a target of raising £10,000 to pay for a caravan for a refugee family to live in and supplies for the camp.

He said that before he arrived, he thought The Jungle would be glum and depressing.

“It is a place of complete contrast,” he said. “Day to day, there is lots of conversation. People are smiling and joking.

“It is a very emotional experience. People will talk about their past – they are in their darkest moments and are just trying to get through it.”

Jay is mixing with migrants mainly from Sudan but has also met people from Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria, Somalia and Eritrea.

Many are desperate to get to the UK, trying to jump on lorries or get through the Channel Tunnel.

Jay said he did not see it as his job to dissuade them.

“When they come to my information area, I give out cards with advice and point out the dangers of trying to get on trains or lorries,” he said.

“I do not try to tell anyone not to go because they are here to make their own decisions – I am here to help them.

“It is hard when someone says they are going to try and get on a train to England. You just hope you will see them again the next day.”

Jay is working independently and helping a French charity distribute supplies in the camp.

He graduated from the Academy of Contemporary Music in Guildford two years ago, and worked for a record label in London for a year before returning to Biddenden.

While in The Jungle he is writing a blog which he hopes to turn into a book. See www.jayburgess.net