A group of volunteers spent the weekend packing 10,000 “home comfort” boxes that will now be delivered as a “thank you” to all British service personnel in Afghanistan.
The specially-produced ammo-style boxes contain lip balm, shower gel, Haribo Sweets, toothpaste, soap, puzzle books and other items to remind soldiers of home.
The boxes are the initiative of the Afghan Heroes registered charity, which was set up in September last year by mothers who had lost loved ones in Afghanistan. They have now been handed over to the Ministry of Defence which will deliver them to the front line as part of Armed Forces Day on June 26.
Denise Harris, founder of Afghan Heroes, whose son Corporal Lee Scott lost his life while serving in Helmand Province last July, said: “Many people who have served in Afghanistan, including Prince Harry, have told us how important it is to get little parcels from home.
“But many soldiers do not have family support and we wanted to show everyone that people back here in the UK really care about them. The boxes have been made possible by generous donations from people throughout the country since we launched the charity last September.
“We have also had kind donations from companies such as Haribo, who donated products. We set this initiative as the first task for the charity and we have been overwhelmed by the response of the public and we believe they will be a very welcome boost for our troops when they are delivered.”
Around 150 volunteers from children to pensioners, army cadets and members of the military from all over the UK, gave up their time over the weekend to pack the boxes at a building donated for the purpose by the Bath and West Showground in Somerset.
With two 100ft production lines in full flow 7,630 boxes were completed by Saturday afternoon. The remaining boxes were then finished by 2pm on Sunday.
Each box included 17 different items for the troops and at its peak each line packed 600 boxes per hour (10 boxes per minute).
7 Comments
hello.im sarah.my daughter works at a well known supermarket at roneo corner romford.collecting money in buckets, and donations of goodies for our wonderful boysin afghanistan.she was so proud of the wonderful people who shop there for there overwhelming generosity.the day went so well.i had to post this comment.just to let our wonderful boys know they they are so highly thought of and not forgotten,andi am so proud of my michelle and all the people who helped on the day
Well done Denise and all the kind people that gave up their time to pack the boxes.
There is a song on “Youtube” called “Star Spangled Shroud” it’s a tribute to all the brave mothers of our fallen soldiers.
This song should be their Anthem, their Protest and their Voice.
Did you hear Tim Pitman sing “Fields of Green” on Sunday?
Fields of Green by Afghan Heroes, featuring Tim Pitman, is being released on Danqua Records in association with Roostie.com. Fields of Green is available via iTunes and SMS text message purchase on Monday 29th March.
See the main site for details.
I’m am a mother of an Australian solider who was killed in Afghanistan last year. As we have only had 11 soldiers who have been killed we do not have a big support network and we really feel alone. I love the idea of the care packages you have done for the soldiers and would love to do something similar for our soldiers. I hope you don’t mind me borrowing your idea Its amazing. I would appreciate any helpful ideas
Hi Bronwyn,
Thank you for your email, i am so sorry for your loss i know what you are going through, of course we don’t mind you borrowing our idea, i am sorry you have lost some of your finest.
if there is anything we can do to help you please do not hesitate to contact us on info@afghanheroes.org.uk
Kindest regards
Denise
I work at a small Primary school in Suffolk. We are collecting treats to send in shoeboxes for the Troops in Afganistan. The soldiers that we were sending to have returned home and we are looking for more addresses to send to. If you know of anyone that would like to recieve a box please message me. We have lots of goodies waiting to go off!!