"Amazing" generosity of islanders helps clothe over 60 Filipino farmers

Thursday 12 January 2023

An islander who launched an appeal for cosy clothing for Filipino workers who arrived in the island without anything warm to wear has praised the generosity of Jersey's community as "amazing" after he was inundated with enough donations to fill two vans.

Like many other islanders, Ian Cardwell was unaware of the difficulties faced by Filipinos coming to Jersey to work until four years ago when he married his wife, who is from the Philippines.

Since then, Mr Cardwell has become immersed in the Filipino community in Jersey and is now determined to make the island a more welcoming place for those coming here to work.

He described “falling in love” with the local Filipino community, who he said are “kind, exceptionally hard-working, conscientious, and reserved” people.

Mr Cardwell explained that workers often arrive from the Philippines in the middle of Jersey’s winter with nothing but summer clothes to wear. 

“They have no idea what they’re coming to,” he explained. “They’re used to only wearing flip-flops, no socks, and shorts, and then suddenly they arrive here in Jersey and it’s freezing!"

Pictured: Mr Cardwell wasn't involved with the Filipino community in Jersey until he married Liza four years ago.

Although employers provide their teams with appropriate work attire, many workers still have nothing appropriate to wear outside of working hours.

It was this that inspired Mr Cardwell to post on Facebook group ‘Ecycle Jersey’, where islanders gift away unwanted possessions for free in the interest of sustainability.

He explained that he was collecting donations for more than 60 Filipino men who had recently arrived in the island to work as farmers without any warm clothes.

Mr Cardwell described the response to his Facebook post as “amazing”, and he has now managed to deliver two full vans of clothes to the farm workers this week.  

He said: “I was donated an amazing Superdry coat, I’ve had knitted hats from people, beautiful stuff, even Tommy Hilfiger jackets! The Filipino farmers are now going out looking really smart because of the generosity of Jersey people.”

Pictured: Mr Cardwell has be inundated with donations from islanders.

Mr Cardwell says he is determined to do more to "to try and ensure that they are looked after when they come over to Jersey."

"Minimum wage in the Philippines is around £200 a month, so millions leave the Philippines to get jobs elsewhere and send money home," Mr Cardwell said. "They leave their families, and some don't see them for two or three years at a time - they're watching their children grow up on FaceTime."

"When I started to spend time with more of the local Filipino community, I was not impressed by the way that Jersey looks after them," he explained.

Mr Cardwell is also in the early stages of starting his own company to assist Filipino workers who come over to Jersey to try and better their lives. He also hopes that this could benefit the local economy by providing workers for business which are struggling to find staff.

Pictured: "The Filipino farmers are now going out looking really smart because of the generosity of Jersey people.”

He explained: “I’m in the throes of creating a Jersey agency that will bring in Filipino workers and will look after them. We will make sure that we do have clothes for them. I’m not going to look to the farmers to supply it or the Government to supply it, but we can go to charity shops and get stuff a small price and kit them out so that they’re looked after from the moment they arrive.

“We’ll take them around the island and show them things, introduce them to one-another, introduce them to the community. This Sunday, for example, we’re having a party and we’re going to feed everybody and encourage them to talk to each other and mingle with the community! That’s what I want to do more of.”

If all goes smoothly, Mr Cardwell plans for his company to be up and running within the next couple of months, and hopes to work closely with the Government and other organisations such as the Chamber of Commerce to ensure the best outcomes for the workers.

Pictured: “These people want to come over and they want to work, and we want them to work. It’s the perfect match so we need to make it happen.”

Mr Cardwell explained that any income his company makes will be invested into property to create places for Filipino hospitality workers to live.

“Our main intention is to look after the Filipinos, and look after Jersey,” Mr Cardwell said. “I want local people to be able to go out to a restaurant and be able to be served, not walk all the way there and find the restaurant is closed because they have no staff! So many businesses have gone bust or can only open on certain days because they can’t get the staff, and I want to help with that.”

“These people want to come over and they want to work, and we want them to work. It’s the perfect match so we need to make it happen.”