Support Our Soldiers founder thanks people of Wallingford area for gifts for the troops (From Herald Series)

Support Our Soldiers founder thanks people of Wallingford area for gifts for the troops

2:21pm Thursday 18th December 2008

• Print
• Email
• Share
• Comments(0)

KAREN Webster, the founder of the charity Support Our Soldiers, has thanked the people of Wallingford and surrounding villages for their efforts in getting Christmas gifts to front-line troops.

Her organisation collected boxes of gifts collected by Wallingford Rotary Club and sent them to the troops with almost 12,000 other parcels.

The Bradford-based charity took on the task after the Ministry of Defence said it could not do the job because its priorities had to be getting personal gifts from soldiers’ own families out to them rather than general presents.

Wallingford Rotary was looking at redistributing the gifts to local charities, but member Marilyn Dyer-Lynch trawled the Internet to find the Support Our Soldiers charity.

Mrs Webster said: “We’re delighted to have been able to help out and to make sure that the parcels reached those serving overseas.

“Wallingford Rotary Club and members of the community had obviously put a great deal of effort into the parcels and it would have been a shame for them not to reach the people for whom they were intended. We know the parcels will be very gratefully received by the boys and girls away from their families and friends at Christmas.”

She was supported by Wallingford town and Oxfordshire county councillor Lynda Atkins, who said: “Many years ago, I served with the RAF in Northern Ireland. We received many cards at Christmas just addressed to ‘a soldier’. It was wonderful to know that people were thinking of us and I am sure it is just

• Print
• Email
• Share
• Comments(0)