A BERE Alston woman is determined that British men and women serving in the Armed Forces overseas are not forgotten at home.

Fran Luxton has 'adopted' no fewer than ten 'squaddies' after joining a charity whose aim is to help boost the morale of soldiers on active service — particularly in Afghanistan — by giving them a small taste of home with a regular supply of parcels.

Adopt A British Squaddie was set up in June 2010 by Mark Stephens.?It has now supported more than 5,800 troops and sent more than 15,000 parcels and letters to British troops on active service overseas to show them that the rest of the UK is thinking of them.

Fran, aged 52, is one of its first supporters, said: 'We often take for granted the very things that most deserve our gratitude. As a child I had fond memories of two larger than life uncles who were both in the army, so I was bought up with a healthy respect for the Armed Forces and my father was in the Home Guard during the war. My partner Del is also a former soldier in the Royal Logistics Corps.'

Fran admits 'adopting' squaddies is an addictive pastime but trying to cram so much into the parcel's two kilogram allowance is quite a challenge.

'We are allowed to send six shoeboxes or jiffy bags of goodies over the period of a six-month tour, so one parcel every month.

'You will find yourself wandering round the supermarkets, weighing things in your hands and mentally sizing them up whilst simultaneously ticking off the list of allowed goods to make sure it conforms to regulations!'

Parcel sending stops at the end of November to avoid clogging up the British Forces Post Office system and allow family parcels to get through, however, the group will be continuing to send care parcels, this time to homeless ex- military personnel in need in the UK through their association with UKHome4Heroes.

AABS has also joined forces with UK Homes for Heroes to run a Christmas campaign within the UK packaging and sending boxes to distribute to ex-military who are homeless or about to be rehomed.

To register to Adopt a British Squaddie, and to find out about how you can help, go to http://www.adoptabritishsquaddie.org">www.adoptabritishsquaddie.org