WHEN it comes to surviving the winter outdoors, homeless people in Devon will be a little more 'comfy' this winter thanks to the efforts of staff and volunteers from The Adventure Centre at Kelly College.

Linzi Pearce, the sales and marketing manager of the Adventure Centre, responded to a national appeal for 'The Rucksack Project'.

Linzi, assisted by the centre manager Paul Birchill and volunteers from the college, is collecting donations of rucksacks (with shoulder straps), sleeping bags, hats, gloves, socks, fleeces, boxer shorts, flasks, tinned soup (with ring pulls) and spoons — and anything else considered useful for those living rough outdoors in the rain and the cold.

The Rucksack Project is a grass-roots movement born out of a simple idea to help those sleeping rough on the streets during the freezing winter months.

Linzi said the project has 'snowballed' after a man started a charity walk around the coast of Britain to raise money for the 'Help for Heroes' campaign.

His appeal then spread to Facebook and The Rucksack Project was born, as people living on the streets include many ex-servicemen.

The Adventure Centre has been collecting over the Christmas period and into January.

Linzi told the Times: 'We thought that since we had many connections with the outdoor industry we would ask around and see if anyone would like to donate.

'It has gone really well. We will be collecting the items and then separating them into individual packs.

'These will be distributed through the Salvatiion Army and a homeless shelter via the Pathway Project in Plymouth.'

The Adventure Centre sorted collected donated items, including those brought to the Guildhall in Plymouth last month, from all over the city and Cornwall.

'With all the items we put a slip in each pack so that the police know that the contents belong to the homeless person,' said Linzi.

'We have had a lot of support in Tavistock, including the Payless store, Fatcalf Media and many donators — one gave us a bag of 20 sleeping bags.

'Plympton Brownies are making a collection for us and a sports shop in Plymouth has promised socks and polo shirts — we are aiming to sort about 100 full packs.'

Anyone who would like to donate items should bring them to The Adventure Centre, Parkwood Rd, Tavistock (next door to Kelly College) during office hours.

For details on local collections call 01822 813106 and for more information on the national project, go to http://www.facebook.com/rucksackproject">www.facebook.com/rucksackproject