Volunteers have praised the ‘remarkable’ compassion of people across the region who have donated items to help refugees caught up in the crisis engulfing Europe.
Three truckloads of goods have been given to an appeal in Meltham which began with a simple Tweet asking where donations could be made.
Town councillor Richard Noon, who is a trustee of the Carlile Institute in Meltham, replied to the Tweet saying the Institute would be the ideal venue.
Within days the Institute was swamped with tents, sleeping bags, clothes, shoes and household goods.
And so far £2,500 has been given in cash to help the refugees.
Post Office Ltd has donated the use of lorries to transport all the goods and a 20-tonne truck left last weekend, a second went out on Thursday and a third will be loaded up to leave next week.
The goods are being taken to Manchester where the charity Syria Relief is organising distribution to areas where they are most needed, including Syria, Greece, Germany and the Lebanon.
Mr Noon said he has been overwhelmed by the response of local people.
“It’s been remarkable,” he said. “We never imagined anything on this scale.
“We asked for volunteers to come and help box everything up and we had 40 or so people come along.
“Post Office Ltd has been brilliant donating the lorries. I don’t know what we’d have done without them.
“And the volunteers have made this all possible. They have been incredible.”
When the last lorry has left a number of events are being planned to celebrate the community’s work.
A woman from Iraq will give a talk in Meltham on life as a refugee and a curry night will then be held to toast the success of the appeal.
Mr Noon said: “When we started we had no idea how much would be donated but it shows just how much a community can do.
“It is testament to the compassion of the people in this area.
“We made a call, and by heck did people answer. It’s unbelievable.”
