THE generosity and determination of the North East to help Afghan families forced to leave their country has been laid bare after an appeal for donations drew an overwhelming response.
Organisers of the appeal in Darlington have been left staggered by the volume of goods donated to help displaced families from Afghanistan.
Darlington Veterans Community, which was set up last year to support ex-armed forces personnel in the town, organised a donation drive earlier this week as a way of showing support for those forced to leave their country at short notice.
The support group are using a town centre pub – The Old English Gentleman – as their donation hub, and have reported a huge response from the local community.
From toiletries and sanitary products to pallets full of clothes from local businesses, Iraq veteran Dan Smith who helps runs the group, thanked donors for their generosity.
“It’s been very positive and everyone’s come together to help out,” said Mr Smith.
“Being a veterans charity, a lot of the members have served in Afghanistan alongside the interpreters and embassy staff and with everything that’s going on they’ve been left to fend for themselves.
“We believe that we have a duty of care to look after them, with many people leaving with nothing at very short notice, so we decided to do what we could to help them.”
The group are in conversation with Darlington MP Peter Gibson to identify appropriate charities and support services that can take in the donations and send them to Afghan families.
Scott Martin, also a member of the group, said his experiences in Afghanistan led to him wanting to help out, adding: “I did multiple tours out there, ranging from six to nine months per tour.
“When out there we worked closely with the Afghan nationals from the army to interpreters and we all built up a good rapport with them.”
Mr Martin said he is indebted to hundreds of people who helped him while he was in Afghanistan and described seeing images of families fleeing the country with just carrier bag of belongings as a “real eye-opener”.
“They left their families to come and help and protect us. They were putting their lives at risk for us, so this is a good way for the veteran community to repay the favours,” he said.
“We are glad to be able to try to support them coming across here and helping provide the basic toiletries they need. It’s a little task compared to what they’ve done for us.”
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