EVERY morning for two weeks Angela Mcewan and Dimitri Dunbar made the way from their holiday home on the Greek island of Leros to the local coastguard station to meet the hundreds of people who had just arrived on flimsy boats, clinging to scraps of life-jackets.

Looking for the most vulnerable - pregnant women and women with babies and very young children - they would take them to a makeshift refuge, an empty six-roomed house locals has turned into a place where the refugees could shower, change into clean clothes, eat and sleep before moving on.

Cold, dehydrated, hungry and many not even wearing shoes after losing them on the crossing, the refugees, often including three generations of a family, had fled Syria, made their way across Turkey and finally arrived Greece, where they could get the necessary paperwork to continue their journey north.

“You were always looking for the youngest, the most vulnerable. You can imagine trying to explain to fathers why you are taking their wife and children away, that’s quite difficult for them to grasp,” remembers Angela.

The couple from Paisley, who both work in education, have had links with the Greek island for 25 years and visit their holiday home on extended breaks two or three times a year.

Over the summer they became increasingly aware of the rising tide of refugees arriving on the island’s shores and realised they needed to help.

A group of islanders under the name Leros Solidarity Network had already organised a rota of local restaurants to provide food every day to the families arriving, and distribute clothing and water.

“We came home and followed on Facebook what was happening. It was pretty clear to us they could do with support in terms of volunteers. So we went back out to assist the locals,” says Angela.

“There was enough accommodation in the refuge for about 40 people. In the morning we went back to wake them up and take them back down to the coastguard area.”

Families had to wait 24 hours to receive their EU paperwork, so every day Angela and Dimitri met new families and helped them on their way before the next arrivals.

“About 500 people were arriving per day in the middle of October. By last Saturday 2500 people arrived on the island and 1500 the day before,” says Angela.

“It has a huge effect on the islanders. Leros is smaller than Arran so you’re talking about a population of 8000. The person in charge of it all there is the local former magistrate Martina Katsiveli and she is fabulous. That is her life now, she is a local woman and she faces this every morning.

“As winter is approaching the numbers arriving are increasing as people are trying to get across before it is impossible. In December the weather is really cold. There is no snow but it is bitterly cold, with a really strong wind and I cannot imagine what that would be like if you were out on the water.”

Last month the couple took donations from fellow members of the congregation at Glenburn Baptist Church in Paisley, including £1000 which has been used to buy food for those who arrive at the coastguard yard, for mothers and children at the refuge and to pay for laundry at the refuge.

In terms of supporting the Greek economy as well as helping the refugees, Angela says it is better to send money to buy food and things like shoes rather than spend money on containers sending clothes there.

She says she will never forget the incredible commitment of people to help each other.

“One young girl studied French literature in Damascus and came in on a boat with 250 people, so because she had some English she was the person doing the translating for the passports,” says Angela.

“That means she was last to eat. The next day when they got their papers and were free to go and get their tickets for Athens, she came up to the children’s refuge to help us clean it.”

Dimitri can’t forget the stories of those he met in Leros.

“One woman was an engineer who had two houses blown up, and her car, and was getting out of it. She had her brother in law, a Syrian lawyer, with her. Life had just become impossible for them,” he says.

“They paid about 1000 Euros each to get across from Turkey on a leaky boat with lifejackets that didn’t work.

“Another young guy I was talking to was asking about the ferry to Athens. I explained it was a big, superfast ferry. He wanted to know if it would be Ok in a storm.

“It dawned on me what he was most anxious about was that it wouldn’t sink. He was a strong young guy, who you would have thought could have faced anything, but he was absolutely petrified of going on the water again.

“There were all ages, lots of families, lots of young men, even grannies and grandpas, including a 90-year-old woman.

“One woman gave birth on the island a few days ago, another baby was just a fortnight old.”

Angela and Dimitri have followed the journeys of some of the people they met.

“We have stayed in contact with several people on Facebook. It’s great when you get the messages in saying, ‘We’ve arrived, we’re in Germany’,” says Angela.

To donate, visit www.crowdfunding.justgiving.com/Scot-LerosSolidarityNetwork