A CONTAINER of clothes, tents, pushchairs and duvets has been sent to help refugees in Greece this Christmas.

East Lothian Aid for Refugees (ELAR) dispatched its thirteenth container full of supplies from its Wallyford warehouse.

And East Lothian MP George Kerevan went along to help them pack the 25-tonne shipment.

The container is bound for Thessaloniki and will arrive in the new year. ELAR’s partner organisation Intervolve will distribute the supplies between the 19 refugee camps in the area.

Mr Kerevan said: “I am proud to represent a county which has opened its heart to the plight of refugees, whether those stuck in the camps or those who make it to our shores.

“It’s over a year now since I opened my office as a collection point, and at times we have had donations take up a third of the space in the meeting room.

“East Lothian Aid for Refugees does amazing work. Not only is this container going out this morning, but there’s another van-load on its way to Calais in the afternoon.

“I hadn’t realised that the migrants who were ‘relocated’ from ‘the Jungle’ [Calais] had to leave almost everything behind them, and are in greater need of shoes and warm clothing than they were before.”

Janet Barnes, chairwoman of the ELAR committee, paid tribute to the generosity of the people of East Lothian, who have responded so sympathetically.

She also thanked Haddington company Lemac for supplying boxes, enjoyleisure for allowing their sports centres centres to be used as collection points, and East Lothian Council for covering the warehouse costs.

And she appealed for continued support.

She said: “The need is still as great, please keep on giving. You can follow our progress through our Facebook page, East Lothian Aid for Refugees, and volunteer to help sort and pack clothes if you so wish.

“Winter is the worst time of year, of course, and we need all the resources we can muster.”