For the last two days the people of Hedge End have been donating items of food, toiletries and household goods, such as candles and matches, to be sent out to people of Kosovo living in poverty.

The message from Hope and Aid Direct to the shoppers of Hedge End’s Sainsbury’s is, ‘Please buy an extra item to place in our trolleys, ’ and the charity will be outside the superstore again today If you’d like to help the people of Kosovo.

John Desty, the charity’s Joint Area Coordinator for Southern England said, ‘The satisfaction is in giving things – necessities – to people with absolutely nothing.’

On Friday and Saturday Hedge End people gave literally a ton of food on each day – the equivalent to 140 boxes of items over the two days.

The charity needs long-life food such as flour, lentils, sugar and salt – but not tins as these are heavy and it’s weight that counts when loading up the lorries.

Shopper Julia Housham said as she donated a bag of rice, ‘This is a nice thing to do. It’s our good deed for the day.’

The boxes from Hedge End will leave the UK on 9 October in a 14-vehicle convoy which will arrive in Kosovo five days later. There the food will be distributed personally by members of the charity with the organisational and logistical help of organisations which include Mother Theresa’s Society and UNHCR, the United Nation’s refugee agency.

Hope and Aid Direct volunteer Malcolm Havercroft commented, ‘I saw a lady in Kosovo last Easter who had literally no food to give her children and she burst into tears when we gave her a bag of pasta.’