AS a child, she starred in one of the best-loved family films of all time.

Now Chitty Chitty Bang Bang star Heather Ripley has laid bare life in a refugee camp as she works to support displaced people “trapped” in Greece.

Ripley, known to millions as Jemima in the Disney favourite, has dedicated her adult life to activism, living with her children on protest camps at Faslane, Pollock, and more.

Now she is among volunteers at the Lagadikia camp outside Thessaloniki, providing food, clothing and support to around 875 people.

A key part of the migration route from Syria and other counties, countless numbers of people have travelled through Greece since the European refugee crisis began last summer. Since then Greece has closed its borders in response to massive pressure from other EU states, with an estimated 54,500 people currently “trapped” in camps around the country.

However, despite repeated calls by Greece for more help to cope with the massive influx, conditions at the camps are poor, with sanitation and security among the highest concerns.

In an exclusive interview with The National, Dundee-born Ripley has told of the heartbreak and inspiration found in the camps and her shock and anger at the conditions faced by refugees as the world fails to find them the sanctuary they need.

She said: “It’s a time bomb waiting to explode. There are now 54,500 refugees trapped in Greece, with the Balkan borders closed and Europe only reacts with this controversial deal with Turkey which could collapse at any moment.

“The asylum process is totally dysfunctional, leading to terrible frustration and of course anger. This exacerbates every problem we as volunteers are already having difficulties dealing with. There is a structural crisis here that shows how obviously sick the existing state system is and that it is now imploding.

“However, those of us who are working for change can help organise a new collective, common sustainable future out of of this crisis, I hope.”

Currently living in the Skala ecovillage 45 minutes from Thessaloniki, Ripley travelled to Greece in April and planned to stay for four weeks, but now believes she will remain for three months.

Though engaged in a number of areas, the 57-year-old aims to focus on helping under-sevens and creating a mother and toddler group to aid language-learning and help camp residents build support networks.


Ripley, a freelance camera operator with Forres-based Flying Mirrors, became involved with the RefuGEN initiative after filming at the Global Ecovillage Network conference last year and prepared by “reading every report on Facebook and watching every clip on YouTube” from volunteers in Greece and France.

However, she said: “I wasn’t so prepared to hear the individual accounts of the horrendous journeys the Syrians survived, the bombings, imprisonment, beatings, loss of family members, terrifying journeys in all weathers with many small children, through the night, over the Aegean sea with smugglers.

“These kind of stories, heard from the lips of the survivors, are impossible to prepare for.”

Ripley has also been struck by the lack of sanitation in Lagadikia, where litter overflows and encourages both rats and snakes.

The camp also lacks sufficient medical cover and services for unaccompanied children, while security gaps leave female residents feeling unsafe. She said: “Lagadikia, despite the terrible lack of facilities, is considered one of the best camps that volunteers have seen.

“However that’s not saying much. It’s in an old Russian army barracks, so it does look frighteningly like a detention centre.

“The children are wonderful, lively, playful, some shy and bewildered, some wild and noisy. The first phrases they have learned in the English language are ‘hello, my friend’ and ‘I love you’. I’m often surrounded by three or four children all hugging me at once and it’s a wonderful experience being with them.”

She went on: “The Greek people must be the most generous in the world. I have not met one single Greek person that is not as equally concerned about the plight of these people as their own economic problems.

“It is shocking to have both these tragedies to deal with at the same time and they are dealing with both with incredible patience, bravery and humanity.”

Ripley believes the strength of support for refugees in Scotland and opposition to UK bombing in Syria mean “the case for Scottish independence couldn’t be clearer”.

She said: “In the context of worsening austerity and increasing attacks on our basic human rights, I think there will be many more triggers.

“Many people among the UK public hold a strong belief that there has to be another independence referendum.”

She added: “There is no Syria for these people to return to for several years and they are peaceful educated people who have exactly the same priorities as everyone else – a decent place for their children to live and go to school and some way of earning their living.

“The majority of families I am working with have never even imagined living this way.”