Student's 1,000-mile mission to help people in poverty

A LAKES College student is set to travel more than 1,000 miles to deliver parcels filled with gifts, toys and school supplies to young people in abject poverty.

Ceri Weighman, who is studying the Level 2 Certificate in Safe Handling of Medicines distance learning course at Lakes College, helps to organise shoebox collections for children in poverty in Europe for the charity Boxes of Hope Cumbria.

A team of volunteers from across the county, including Ceri, are set to travel to Romania in December to distribute shoeboxes filled with toiletries, stationery, toys and other essentials for young people.

Ceri said: “I absolutely adore making the shoeboxes, it’s a passion of myself. I do 100 boxes myself.”

Last year the initiative saw 9,245 boxes handed out, and surplus funds from the campaign go towards supporting education projects in the country to help break the cycle of poverty.

Ceri said there are a number of ways staff, students and the wider community can help, from making boxes to volunteering at the charity’s warehouse at Whitehaven United Reformed Church.

Examples of some of the items included in boxes are: pencils and paper; small toys such as cars, dolls and balls; sweets including chocolate dated after March 23, 2023; soap; flannels; toothpaste and toothbrush; hat and scarf.

From Monday, November 7 to Friday, December 12, the charity is looking for volunteers to help prepare shoeboxes collected from local schools and churches between 10am and 3pm each day.

Anyone who could spare a couple of hours or is interested in making boxes can find out more information at the Boxes of Hope Cumbria website.