THE Bolton community has been praised for coming together to try and do its bit for an impoverished African country.

A shipment of food and clothing estimated to be worth £75,000 is on its way to Djibouti, a nation on the eastern coast of Africa.

The country is in a region ravaged by drought and 23 percent of the population live in extreme poverty.

Hundreds of volunteers and local businesses in Bolton pitched in to co-ordinate and fund the shipment, which was organised by the international Muslim aid organisation, the Al-Khair Foundation.

The goods were packed into a 40-foot container that left Bolton at the end of April and will get to their destination next week.

It contains 200 uniforms, school bags, stationary and books for pupils at a school for disabled children, along with other clothing and food supplies.

Businesses which supported the project included Aldi, Manchester Superstores, Noor cash and carry, PK Foods, Autodrive, Kinza Food, Caters Choice, Lubna cash and carry and Tesco.

Members of the Bolton Council of Mosques volunteered to act as donation collection points and worked to get the appeal out to the community.

The initiative is part of Al-Khair’s East Africa appeal to take aid to Djibouti, which has limited natural resources and is at the mercy of the persistent drought and a failing economy.

Yasmin Quereshi, Labour’s General Election candidate for Bolton South East,

said: “These uniforms will bring dignity and self-respect back to the children and encourage them to study.

“A special thank you goes out to all the volunteers who helped pack and load the container especially the 15 volunteers that travelled two weeks on a trot from Darwen to help us with this drive.

“The local businesses of Bolton also gave a huge helping hand in getting this project off the ground.

“Al-Khair Foundation have been doing tremendous work locally here in Bolton,

through youth engagement and helping the needy and disadvantaged by providing food parcels and

clothing.

“Al-Khair Foundation were on the ground helping those effected during the 2015 floods here in Bolton too.”

Al-Khair’s regional manager, Imran Musa, added: “This is a brilliant example of the whole community coming together to support our

campaign.

“The supplies can’t get there fast enough and we are so grateful for the all support we have had.

“This will make a real difference to hundreds.”