HELP is on its way to seriously ill children in Iraq thanks to the generosity of local people.
More than £50,000 worth of drugs is going to help youngsters with leukaemia at Baghdad Central Children's Hospital.
One of the organisers, John Hinman, said: "This consignment is lifesaving and we want those children to live. I saw the pictures on TV and decided to do something and I got a list of the equipment the hospital needed.
"It was expensive, but everything sent is what the children needed for treatment.
"Hopefully, there will be further consignments."
The appeal was set up in the Osmotherley and Crathorne parish by Benedictine monk Father Terence Richardson who received support from his order and help from the Bishop of Middlesbrough, the Right Reverend John Crowley.
The consultant radiologist at the James Cook University Hospital, Middlesbrough, Dr Geoff Naisby, also gave his support.
The group collected £31,000 in eight months and help from several large medical organisations boosted the value of the drugs of £50,000.
Two Benedictine monks and a retired imam blessed the boxes of drugs before they set off on their long journey.
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