KIND-hearted people in Bromsgrove united to donate thousands of much-needed items to help refugees resettle in the UK from Afghanistan.

Volunteers were inundated with donations at Bromsgrove Methodist Church during the collection event organised by Bromsgrove and District Asylum Seeker Support (B&DASS) in the wake of the Afghanistan crisis.

The team aimed to create 100 ‘welcome packs’ for newly-arrived refugees, but were blown away to see they had enough items for 1000 packs during the event on September 4.

Johannah Dyer, from B&DASS said: "It was emotional. When you organise these things you never know that the response will be. We set a target to create 100 welcome packs of essential items but we completely smashed that. We have enough to make 1000.

"There were so many lovely stories. A local guide group had raised money through the week to buy items for girls. Other children had made cards to put into the packs."

She also paid tribute to the kindness of a group of travellers who were based on the site's car park who donated £110 and helped unload items.

It was a team effort from across the community with Bromsgrove Bus and Coach Company and businesses Moving Pianos and Urban Planters offering their vehicles to transport items to the group's lock-up in Redditch.

The team are now working with government agencies to distribute packs to refugees when they settle in the UK and will be organising more collection events later this year.

B&DASS started last year to help asylum seekers in Bromsgrove and has grown from 250 to 600 members in the past two weeks.

The group are also searching for a base to store donations in Bromsgrove that can be accessed 24/7. Anyone who can offer space should contact the group on Facebook by searching for Bromsgrove & District Asylum Seeker Support.