DEVASTATION facing refugees across Europe has been brought closer to home by Dorcan Academy students in a bid to make their experience more relatable for their classmates.

Year 10 students put together a video, which is accompanied by Gary Jules’s song Mad World, to try to explain the devastation facing families across the continent using a message that will be easily understandable to young people.

The YouTube video features images of the aftermath of bombing raids over Swindon during the Second World War, before showing a classroom with pupils gradually disappearing to represent the ravages of death, disease and displacement.

The video came about after media teacher Ruth Farrow attended a meeting hosted by Swindon-Calais Solidarity at the beginning of term where the plight of the refugees in Calais was discussed. and ideas tables as to what the Swindon people could do to help. “It had been bothering me that when I had mentioned the refugee situation in Europe to students, very few had an idea of the scale of the problem,” she said.

“Many did not know why they were arriving in such vast numbers or where from; the majority knew very little.”

At the meeting Ruth met Dorcan Academy student Sydney Newham and her family, who invited the teacher to join them and begin planing the project.

Ruth said: “Our first task was to try to explain what was happening to these people in a way that a teenager in Britain, with all the security and privilege that involves, could understand. “The students decided to create a video which drew on Swindon’s Second World War history and relate it to what was happening to the refugee crisis." "It was an attempt to put the students in the refugees’ shoes, make it personal for a brief moment so that they could try to imagine the horror of their situation.”

The video has had quite an impact, with donations from parents and the students have also been busy baking cakes to sell, raising £80 in the process.

Speaking of the process behind making the video Sydney Newham said: “We had to rush to take the shots for the video so we could launch our campaign quickly. I have had lots of compliments about the video.”

Her classmate and fellow video maker Billie Jo Francis said: “We’ve decided to carry on raising awareness and money for the refugees by holding regular cakes sales.”

Jack Clapton said: “We wanted to make everyone try and understand how desperate these people are without frightening the younger students – I think it worked.”

Speaking of the effect of the finished video Finley Sly said: “The video had an emotional effect on my friends that I hoped for but didn’t expect.”