Angus is delivering an “incredible” response to the plight of refugees with the donation of a mountain of help from across the district.
Van loads of clothing and other items have already been sent from the area to support organisations working closely with those on the front-line of the crisis.
But as help continues to pour in the organisers of the local campaign are now desperately seeking transport to help them make a mercy trip to Hungary within the next fortnight.
Angus Solidarity for Refugees has co-ordinated the area’s reaction to the desperate situation, with individuals and groups from every local community responding to the Facebook-led appeal.
Eddie Anderson of the group said: “We had no idea it would turn into anything on this scale.
“Every town in Angus is collecting, sorting it out and it then goes to Arbroath to a central storage depot to be sorted out we are trying to get it shifted as quickly as we can.”
“Schools are picking up, churches are picking up but what we are desperately seeking is vehicles and drivers that is going to be the real challenge.
“We are leaving on October 4 for Hungary, hopefully with three vehicles but it would be great if a transport firm was able to provide us with those,” added Mr Anderson, who can be contacted on 07985 341334.
Typical of the Angus response has been the help provided by Forfar’s Strathmore primary school, whose P3 and P4 youngsters approached their teachers after seeing the plight of the refugees.
A letter was sent home to parents via every child in school, listing the essential items the appeal was looking for toiletries, sanitary products, tinned foods, long life foodstuffs, snacks, warm blankets etc.
In the course of just a week around 100 bags and boxes of donations flooded in.
P3 teacher Colin Hutchison said: “I was quite moved when the children in my class suggested they would like to do something to help the refugees.
“They showed a great level of maturity when discussing the situation and were aware of the sort of things the people fleeing danger zones would require. The level of generosity from children and their families has been just amazing.”