Traumatised and imprisoned in a foreign country, most of the detainees in Campsfield House Immigration and Removal Centre feel they have not got a friend in the world.

But a handful of Oxfordshire residents hope to make immigrants feel a "little less friendless", if only for a short time, by visiting them at the Kidlington-based centre.

Carole Angier, of Ascott-under-Wychwood, has visited detainees in Campsfield House for the past eight years. Ms Angier, who is a writer, is Jewish and her own parents were refugees from Nazi Germany. They were given asylum in England before they emigrated to Canada.

Her background as a refugee and her experience of writing about Auschwitz inspired her to start visiting people who are detained at Campsfield House while their asylum cases are decided.

She said: "Although it is not a fair comparison with Campsfield, I started thinking about of what is must be like to be imprisoned especially when you haven't committed any crime.

"Most inmates in Campsfield have committed an immigration crime but nothing else. I interviewed a woman who survived Auschwitz and she told me she was able to keep herself alive because the prison barber smiled at her, he showed a little human kindness and that stayed with her and kept her going. It made me think I could do something to help.

"If you just make one person feel a little less friendless for a short period of time, then it's worth it."

But while visiting a detainee can be incredibly rewarding it can also be deeply depressing.

"It's a bit like being a therapist," said Ms Angier. "You talk to people who are very distressed. They are suffering and you can't help but be drawn into that.

"Also it's difficult for you to talk about it with anybody else because of confidentiality, so you can feel a bit burdened by it all. And it's very hard when you build up trust with somebody. You become friends with them, you try and help them and then they are moved to another detention centre or sent home.

"The saddest experience I had was a man who I believed was a genuine political refugee. I decided I believed in him, I was deeply sympathetic to his cause and I spent two years helping his case to go through court. He lost and he was so distressed he disappeared. I still don't know what happened to him."

But equally other inmates she has befriended have successfully proved their cases and become British citizens. She said: "I became great friends with one man who was eventually given citizenship, and I went to his citizenship ceremony which was absolutely thrilling."

Asylum Welcome has been organising visitors to Campsfield House for the past 10 years. About 40 people visit Campsfield inmates at the moment. Volunteers who speak Dari, Tamil, Sinhalese, Farsi and Arabic are needed to visit inmates with limited English. To find out more information about volunteering call 01865 722082.