Cumbernauld and Kilsyth’s chance to help refugees in winter aid shipment effort

Cumbernauld Supporting Refugees has to date collected an impressive four tonnes of clothes and shoes which have already been delivered to refugee camps in Serbia.

This is the work of volunteers from Glasgow the Caring City but they are now on the lookout for more donations, as wintry conditions descend over the Balkans.

To this end, CSR has asked us to publicise three collection dates it has planned for both Cumbernauld and Kilsyth.

The items required are winter clothes only. These can include coats, scarves, hats, gloves, scarves and shoes.

The first collection will take place on Friday, November 13 from 10am to 2pm at Sacred Heart Parish Church in Kildrum.

The second is the Cornerstone Church event which has been done in conjunction with the Bethlehem House of Bread foodbank between 4pm and 7pm on Wednesday, November 25.

Another town centre collection will take place on Monday, November 30 on the Cumbernauld campus of New College Lanarkshire from 10am to 2pm.

A final collection will take place in Kilsyth from 10am to 2pm at the Church of God in Kilsyth on Monday, December 7.

Co-ordinator Julie Hepburn has been working in conjunction with volunteers including her husband MSP Jamie Hepburn, and has been touched by the generosity of locals who are determined to help.

She said: “We have had a fantastic response from the area so far, with collections from Condorrat Parish Church, Jamie’s constituency office, Carbrain Baptist Church, the Scottish Spina Bifida Centre and Cumbernauld Mosque.

“We are just trying to collect as much as we can to help out.’’

Meanwhile, North Lanarkshire Council has pledged to take in more than 100 refugees in the course of the next few months.