Aid Shipment, February 2005

 

Over the last year, through the hard work of many members, and the generosity of the public, we have accumulated a significant amount of vital aid items to help our friends in Mina-1-Mai.

 

These items were brought from various storage locations, and on the 20th February, several team members met in Tadley to itemise and pack them for shipment.  An easy job you may think, but no.  Due to the Customs and legal restrictions in Romania, each box has to be individually documented.  This means a full definition of its content, its volume and its weight.  This is a tedious and time consuming task, which has to be recorded on special export documents.  In addition, there are certain regulations, for example, only new not used shoes can be shipped, that means some donated items cannot be sent.

 

After an excellent lunch provided by several of the members, the team completed the task.  In summary, there were over 600 new pairs of shoes, 300 blankets, 200 sheets and pillow cases, 200 towels, a large supply of toothpaste and toothbrushes, plus various other items much needed by our friends in Romania.

 

In total there were 93 boxes weighing about 1 tonne.

 

              

 

During the evening, the boxes were loaded into a van.  The following day, two team members then drove the load to our despatch company in Worthing, where it was unloaded ready for shipment over the coming weeks to Mina-1-Mai.

 

Thanks to all who attended on the day and ensured this job was performed smoothly and efficiently.