Karen’s Christmas surprise for troops

9:27pm Sunday 18th November 2007

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A mother and her team of helpers are busy packing up to 5,000 Christmas parcels for British troops serving overseas.

Karen Webster, of Bingley, is still celebrating after winning her campaign last week for British armed forces in Iraq and Afghanistan to receive free post.

Mrs Webster spent the weekend packing hundreds of parcels to be sent off between now and early December.

This is the fifth year she has run her parcel appeal and she has been overwhelmed by support since she launched this year's campaign in September.

She says the tragic toll of lives lost in Afghanistan and Iraq over recent months had prompted a surge of public support. September was the worst month since the start of British involvement in Afghanistan, with seven killed.

The most recent fatality was Captain John McDermid, of The Royal Highland Fusiliers, who was killed last week while leading a joint UK-Afghan patrol south of Sengin in the Helmand province.

Mrs Webster's parcel workshops on Saturday and Sunday came just days after the Royal Mail and the Ministry of Defence announced an open-ended deal to provide the free postal service.

It came after years of campaigning by Mrs Webster, whose son, Nicky, served with the Desert Rats in Iraq in 2003. Mrs Webster, a mother of three, set up Support Our Soldiers (SOS) in 2003 to encourage and provide support for troops.

Every Christmas since then, she and her team of volunteers have packed and sent off parcels to British troops in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Troops in Cyprus, The Falklands, Bosnia and elsewhere overseas are also sent packages. Mrs Webster asks people to donate £5 to pay for the contents of a parcel or to pack one themselves. Contributors enclose their own greeting card with a seasonal message.

Last year, SOS sent 2,500 parcels, but this year support has been overwhelming and the number could double. Two more workshops are being held next weekend at Mrs Webster's home, "I am delighted but also under a great deal of pressure as well," she said.

Anyone wanting to know more can log on to: www.supportoursoldiers. co.uk.