A BANTHAM resident has converted his van into a kitchen to provide nutritious food to refugees in Greece and a fundraiser on Friday aims to help him keep going.

Josh Turner-Hunt, 21, worked as the pizza chef at the Crabshell Inn in Kingsbridge to raise enough money to covert his red Sprinter van into a camper for him and his friends to use on a surfing trip around Europe and down to Morocco.

When the winter came around, his friends went back to Australia and the UK and Josh, who worked at Bantham Surfing Academy and is a qualified lifeguard, heard about the refugee crisis and the need for lifeguards to help, as refugees arrived in flimsy boats to the island of Lesbos in Greece.

He decided he needed to help, so he travelled to Lesbos to help pull people from the sea and on to the safety of dry land.

After being in Lesbos and witnessing the crisis first hand, Josh realised that what was really needed was good food and hot drinks, so he went back to Spain, picked up his van and converted it from a camper to a mobile kitchen with burners and pots.

Josh travelled back to Idomeni, a refugee camp near the Greek border with Macedonia, and started serving food and drink as the Big Red Van Project. From there, he linked up with other volunteers and together they created the EKO Kitchen, working with Syrian cooks and other volunteers to feed 1,500 people a day, 500 of which are children, in the camp.

Josh’s father, Tim Hunt, went out to see his son in the camp and witnessed the work he was doing there. ‘Most of the refugees there are from Aleppo, which used to be a beautiful city and is now bombed to hell and is a nightmare.’, said Tim. ‘Josh is working with a Syrian chef called Houssam who, with his wife Fatima, owned a restaurant in Aleppo before it was bombed and he has ended up in a refugee camp.

‘Now he is the main chef at the EKO Kitchen, creating nutritious food every day. Food is provided by the UN in the camps but it is often just white bread and cheese and isn’t suitable - just carbs and sugar. Josh and Houssam are creating Syrian food, curries, rice, lentils, beans, vegetables - which is what these people are used to and what they need.’

Josh worked in Idomeni for four months and served 1,500 people a day. £1 can pay for three meals, and donations from the local farmers helps to support him.

‘The integration and collaboration between the Syrian refugees, the local Greek people and the volunteers is amazing’, continued Tim, ‘We visited for two weeks and I was inspired by the generosity and friendliness, despite the horrendous conditions.

‘The camp is made up of aircraft hangers with tents inside, with one family to a tent. The heat was intense and the hygiene systems are basic. There is nothing for the children. They are just waiting for their applications to be processed to allow them to move on.

‘Speaking to them, all of them want to go home, none of them want to be a burden. They had good lives in Syria before the war and they had to leave, and now all the borders are closed they can’t leave Greece.

‘We [the UK] are one of the main arms dealers and beside the USA and Russia, we helped destroy the community and forced people to leave, and now they are waiting for Europe to decide what to do.’

EKO Kitchen was named when the group of volunteers were sitting and discussing what to name the project spotted ‘EKO’ lit up at the side of the road - its actually the name of a chain of garages in Greece.

Tim, who is helping to organise a fundraising event with dinner, music and an auction on Friday, September 9, said: ‘This project is really showing the strength of community here in the South Hams and Bantham. So many people have donated for the auction, the food is being donated by Organic Riverford Farm, the printing was donated by Nick Walker Printing, Diana Cooper, previously of Tideford Foods, is cooking and we are aiming to feed 200 people.’

The event, which takes place on Friday at Hatch Barns, Churchstow, TQ7 4AJ, with be compered by Agata Krajewski, a comedian, and live music will be provided by The Mannequin, The Skeiks, DJ Bulb and Sponge and DJ Fatboy Candellero and Northern Folk. The auction will be conducted by Andrew Brown.

You can buy tickets on the door or from the Bantham Shop, the Sloop Inn, the Gastrobus, Bantham Surfing Academy, Red Propellor Gallery or The Old Bakery in Kingsbridge or the Curator Coffee Shop or Drift Records in Totnes.

Juliet Bill, The Old Bakery, has been supporting refugees in Greece and Calais for the last few years and said: ‘EKO Kitchen are cooking in sweltering heat, arid wind, incessant rain, snow, ice and now full circle to sweltering heat again. The freshest of food; culturally appropriate and professionally prepared.

‘Served with calm, respectful, considered kindness and sensitivity. Day after day after day. Providing essential protein and nutrition. I fully endorse this initiative and knowing these guys personally it will be a fabulously fun event. Please support. It runs entirely on donations.’

The event aims to raise between £5,000 and £10,000, meaning EKO Kitchen will be able to provide between 15,000 and 30,000 meals to refugees.

Lots for auction include: dinner for two and an overnight stay at Soar Mill Cove Hotel; a framed, limited edition Gicle print ‘The Dance’ by Robert Lenkiewicz; a personal surfing coaching session, with video Analysis (advanced level), a soft top Sola surf board, a 5mm wet suit and beginner surf lesson and a full lifeguarding course from the Bantham Surfing Academy; a dinner for two at the Old Bakery, Kingsbridge; a day in a local recording studio with a professional recording engineer; a dinner for 12, including wine, at the fabled ‘Jenkins Quay’ Bantham donated by Bantham Estates; two nights’ accommodation for two at Sunset Lodge, Bantham; ‘Paddy’s Pizza Evening’- a pizza dinner for eight with pizza from a clay pizza oven, to be held in Bantham; and a delicious dinner for two at the Sloop Inn, Bantham.You can also donate via: https://chuffed.org/project/ekokitchen#/supporters