A TAVISTOCK family has been busy collecting donated children’s toys and stationery to bring a smile to the faces of youngsters in Syria in memory of a much loved and missed family member who was native to the war-torn country.

Mia Alaoui, along with the help of her mother-in-law Vanda, husband Paul, two daughters and friends, is hoping to fill 500 drawstring backpacks with pens, pencils, paper, erasers, stickers, small toys, books and other things to pack off in a container headed for Aleppo in Syria by charity Open Hearts Open Borders. The charity provides aid to places in humanitarian crisis such as Syria, across Europe and other places of conflict.

The initiative, which the family has dubbed DAFFS (Dave Alaoui Foundation For Syria), was started in memory of Mia’s father-in-law Ahmed Alaoui, known as Dave, who died in June last year. He was born in Syria and moved to England in the 1970s, making Tavistock his home in later life.

Mia has already received an overwhelming response from the community following an appeal for items on Facebook and has already made up some 450 bags. She hopes to finish the rest next week.

Mia said: ‘I’ve been asking friends if they could donate items to make packs to send off to Syria. My father-in-law came from there and he was always supporting people back in his own country. Open Hearts Open Borders have a container being shipped out in March and we want to send around 500 drawstring backpacks out with it. The children out there have nothing so we’re filling the bags with things that kids will like — small teddies, toy cars, pens, small books, anything A4-sized and smaller. Something as simple as pens and pencils to a child can bring such a lot of joy.

‘Aleppo was a beautiful place, a bit like Tavistock in that it was safe, clean and a place of interest for many people. This could be us — we would want people to help in this way if it was us in trouble.

‘This is real life it’s not something that we are just seeing on TV — it is actually happening. We need to educate our children to know that if they have clothes, water and food, that is a luxury compared to some of the rest of the world. Hopefully, there will be 500 happy children when they receive these bags.’

Vanda Alaoui said: ‘Ahmed was born in Syria and brought up in Lebanon. He was the youngest child of 14. Many of his close relatives lived in Syria and his father was Syrian, his mother was Lebanese. He came to England in 1974 to study English. I met him in London in 1974 and we had our son Paul in 1975 and got married in 1976. We had 40 happy and loving years together before he was sadly taken from us last June.

‘This is an appeal for Syria in his name and he would have been so happy and proud. Only last year a cousin of his, aged just 12, was shot in the head by a sniper on the streets of Aleppo while he was out with his mother getting some much needed groceries from a local shop — he was shot right in front of her. Ahmed was so upset and devastated that he couldn’t do anything to help.

‘This appeal would have meant everything to him. We miss him so much and his family both in Lebanon and Syria.’

The couple’s son Paul said: ‘I am totally bowled over by the response to this appeal — everyone has been so kind and I am certain that my dad would be thrilled to see so many people from his chosen hometown go out of their way to help those from his place of birth. It has been a hard six months for us since he passed away but the generosity and humility in his honour has shone a bright light in what would have been a dark time.’

Anyone who would like to donate any small items for Mia’s backpacks can do so before Friday, January 27 by contacting Mia on Facebook by searching ‘Mia Holman’. No war toys or batteries are being accepted, for obvious reasons and any donated items should be in decent condition. Any small items bought at Payless Tavistock can be left at the shop for Mia to collect.

Larger items such as clothes and bigger toys are being collected by Open Hearts Open Borders and can be dropped of to Mount Kelly College, Monday to Friday between 10am and 4pm up until March.

A spokesperson for Open Hearts Open Borders said: ‘Since February 2016, working in partnership with charity One Nation, we have filled and sent four 40ft containers of aid to Syria. We are now in the process of collecting and filling our fifth container with baby items, food, clothes, hygiene items and children’s toys. Every small bit of aid counts and helps us to continue with our work.

‘Every time someone donates a box of food, they feed a family for a day. Every time someone donates a packet of nappies a baby sleeps more comfortably at night. Every time someone donates warm clothes and sleeping bags, warmth and comfort is provided for the night. Every time medical aid is donated, a life is saved.

‘For our fifth container we are sending a large number of children’s toys and activities so that we can send a message out to the children of Syria to let them know we care and that we are thinking of them.

‘The people of the South West have been so generous with so many amazing toys and contributions to the gift bags, it is so heart warming to know that we are surrounded by such love and generosity and thought for those who have less than we do.’