TWO million shoeboxes are being sent to Romania thanks to help from a South Somerset team.

More than 8,100 boxes were processed by volunteers at the charity’s sort station near Ilminster before being sent on to charity Blythswood Care.

The shoeboxes are being sent to Vulcan, near Brasov in central Romania, where Blythswood assists local charities helping the disadvantaged Roma community.

Ingrid Bloomfield, organiser of the South Somerset collection, said: “This is only our second year so we are building everything from the ground up. This year, 8,108 boxes have been sent on to Romania.

“We have got some of the old stalwarts and also some new volunteers. We have had as many as 24 volunteers in the warehouse at one time.

“It has been a lovely happy atmosphere at the warehouse. This year we have included some donations from Bristol, some from Axminster, even a few donations from Dorset and Cornwall.

“We have to thank the men from Royal Naval Air Station Yeovilton who came and helped us to load up the lorry.”

The rev Nigel Done, vicar at the Minster, said: “We hold a service every year celebrating the work of those who have been collecting, to honour their work and make it more visible.

“In the Minster we had maybe 200 shoe boxes that came through us this year.

“We feel that this is a really good thing. We acknowledge that sending a shoebox isn’t going to change the world, it isn’t going to solve poverty, but it is going to really make a difference to those desperately in need.”

Finlay Mackenzie, Blythswood’s head of projects, said: “This is quite a milestone for Blythswood.

“When we started the appeal in 1993 we gathered just 300 boxes but over the past decade the totals each year have varied from 106,000 to 150,000.

“People put a lot of thought and care into making up these boxes with sweets, clothes, toiletries and other gifts.

“We take these things for granted but a new pair of socks or a bar of soap are real luxuries for the people who receive them.“Thanks to donors and volunteers from Shetland to Cornwall, Blythswood’s Shoe Box Appeal is a success year after year. These gifts bring joy to needy people of all ages.”

This year Blythswood is sending shoeboxes to Albania, Bulgaria, Hungary, Kosovo, Moldova, Romania, Serbia, Ukraine and Pakistan.