Laura Ferris, a travel consultant from Co-operative Travel in Selby, had initially booked the two-week trip to Lesbos as a holiday for her and her husband, after falling in love with the island last year.

“We were due to fly out on July 25,” she said, “but three months before we went, we started seeing reports of all the refugees arriving on the island.

“We got in touch with a man who was co-ordinating aid on the island to find out how we could help, and so we took extra luggage carrying food and supplies out there.

“We had planned to just spend a couple of days helping out; we ended up spending every day. We spent time at the refugee camp, picking up rubbish, and then we set up water stations, handing out bottles of water and cereal bars to the refugees as they arrived on the boats and walked into town.”

Ferris said that she and her husband were so moved by their time on the island that they planned a return trip as soon as they arrived back in the UK. “As soon as we go back, we were desperate to go back there.

“When we were there in July there were only a few boats arriving a day. By the time we went back in September, there were about 40.”

The pair collected 92kg of luggage, including towels, jogging bottoms, nappies and children’s games and puzzles. “I wanted to bring the children some happiness,” she explained.

Ferris said most of the refugees, who were largely Syrian, initially presumed she and her husband were part of a UN agency. “But we told them that we were just there to help, and they were just so grateful and happy. It was such a humbling experience.”