VOLUNTEERS with the Tavistock branch of Operation Sunshine this week said a huge 'thank you' to Times readers who responded to a recent appeal for knitting wool.
The charity has a team of dedicated knitters who make jumpers and blankets for poor children in Africa — but they had been running out of wool during the last few months.
However, following an article in the Times, the knitters have been inundated with raw materials for the cause.
Wool collector Linda Downing, of Buckland Monachorum, said: 'We really thought we'd got to the bottom of the wool mountain but obviously we hadn't!
'If you stand outside in Buckland now the clicking sound you can hear isn't reindeer hooves, it's the busy sound of happy knitters!
'We had a massive response, we are so grateful to everyone.'
Anyone who has balls of wool which are surplus to requirements is invited to drop it in to the Operation Sunshine collection point in Tavistock Library.
l The Tavistock branch of Operation Sunshine's seventh container of aid in 2008 was sent to Africa on Saturday.
The charity sends the 40ft ship's containers to known contacts, who then distribute the goods to those in need.
This year, three have gone to Zambia, three to Zimbabwe and one to Tanzania. The first for 2009 will be sent in early February.
The goods sent to Africa include clothes, shoes, bags, bedding, towels, toiletries, medical and hospital equipment, sewing machines, knitting equipment, furniture, computers, generators, bicycles, tools, toys, seeds and non-perishable food.
For more information, contact Ann Tregarthen on 01822 614343.