A Christmas pop-up shop in London that sells 'real' life-saving gifts for refugees around the world is planning to roll the idea out across the UK and internationally.

Choose Love in Soho offers tangible gifts including emergency blankets, medical equipment and warm clothes.

It is run by volunteers from the charity Help Refugees which is raising money to support their work in Europe and the Middle East.

The shop opened on Black Friday and will be gone after Christmas Eve - but anyone can still buy the products online here.

It sells items in three sections representing the stages of a refugee's experience: Arrival, Shelter and The Future.


Customers can purchase 'real' gifts that are then sent out to refugee camps on the front line of the migration crisis.

Would you buy a refugee a Christmas present?

The store is described as providing "an uplifting yet meaningful retail experience a striking space where people can learn about refugees while doing something practical to help".

There has been interest in opening more shops in other parts of the country, and across the world, including most recently in New York.

Josie Naughton, from Help Refugees, told Sky News that the concept was about "connecting" with people.

She said: "Two years ago the refugee crisis was on the front page of every newspaper. It was in the news but it's not really being talked about anymore.

"People don't necessarily realise that there are still people in need and that it's still going on.

"So we have had to be thinking of new and interesting ways to let people know."

Image: Once purchased, the gifts will be sent out to refugee camps

Hassan Akkad, 29, fled Syria in 2015 and travelled thousands of miles to the UK by boat and on foot through Greece, Serbia, Hungary, Germany and France.

He remembers the daily struggle of trying to survive with nothing.

"The simplest things in life, the things you find very simple, are really difficult to get when you are doing that journey," he said.

"For us it was a challenge to get fresh water initially. It was a challenge to find somewhere to buy a tent, or to get a sleeping bag.

"...it's just nice to see someone even with a cup of tea, a warm jumper, or a sleeping bag. It just makes you feel human again."

There are currently 65 million people who have been forced to flee their homes around the world, which is a "significant increase" on previous years according to the UN refugee agency.

The refugees living among filth and faeces

Lara Padoan from the UNHCR said: "The reason that people are fleeing is because it's safer for them to be in another country.

"They're leaving their homes because of the bombing in Syria, the persecution in places like Eritrea, because of the war ongoing in South Sudan.

"We've seen a number of ongoing conflicts, protracted crises like Afghanistan, Iraq, Somalia, and of course Syria is one of the biggest conflicts forcing huge numbers of people across borders.

"But we've also seen new wars emerging that are also forcing people to flee. The situation in South Sudan, Burundi, Central African Republic.

"That's also sparking these new waves of displacement."