Teams4U sends shoe boxes to Romania for Christmas

A box packed with extra special care by a ten-year-old schoolgirl has been safely delivered to a ten-year-old girl in Romania in time for Christmas.

Ana-Maria Gabriela Stolof, has lived in Fernwood for the past year with her mother Nicoleta, but grew up in Romania.

She remembers going to get one of the boxes filled with treats at Christmas and so knows how special it is to receive one.

When she and her classmates at the Fernwood site of Chuter Ede Primary School were asked if they wanted to take part in collections for the Give Love In A Box This Christmas Appeal, Ana-Maria decided to put a special one together full of sweets, tooth brushes, and toys.

"We used to keep the boxes afterwards," said Ana-Maria.

"They were very special to us."

Ana-Maria's box was taken with others from her school to a collection point at Sutton-on-Trent Methodist Church Hall.

They were then taken to a warehouse at Evesham and from there delivered to remote towns and villages in Romania. They have been given to children in schools, village centres and halls.

Paul Jeanes, who runs the warehouse and delivery service for the charity Teams4U, and his wife Alison took Ana-Maria's box in their hand luggage when they to Romania to help with the distribution.

Alison was able to hand-deliver the box to a ten-year-old girl, Ema Rosu, and was with her when she opened it,

"She was thrilled," said Alison. "Even more so when we were able to tell her it had come from Ana-Maria who had been living in Romania and was now living in England."

This year the charity was able to take out more than 50,000 boxes, many of them filled by schools and churches in the Advertiser area.

The boxes were taken to Eastern Romania where the first drop was Braila, a very poor area, where they were given to orphanages, including one which is home for 120 disabled children, and poor families.

They were also distributed in Tulcea, a very large and forgotten area, where 300 children and a home for disabled children were among those to receive boxes.

The appeal in this area is organised by Ian Walker and his wife Janet of Little Carlton with the help of other volunteers.

Mr Walker said they would like to get more schools involved next year, especially secondary schools to help provide boxes for the older children.

"The need is so great," he said.