Donated DVDs flood in after army appeal

Parcels for British troops serving overseas have been flooding into the Express & Star offices after a policewoman from Staffordshire made an appeal for DVDs.

Pc Heather Mulingani, of Girton Road, Cannock has a sister, Sgt Theresa Newell, who is currently serving in Afghanistan. Miss Mulingani, aged 26, has been sending out DVDs for Theresa and her colleagues to enjoy during their precious time off, and in all has posted more than 200 films over to troops in Afghanistan during the last few months.

After exhausting the collections of family and friends, Miss Mulingani made an appeal for help from the public in the Express & Star, and more than 100 DVDs have already been donated.

"I think it's absolutely excellent, people have been really generous," she said.

"I spoke to Theresa the other night and told her about the donations, she was really chuffed – she said the lads would be so grateful."

Miss Mulingani said that receiving parcels from home helped to boost the morale of soldiers serving abroad, and that Theresa, aged 40, and her team were desperate for new movies to watch in their downtime. She said the team regularly worked 36 hours straight.

Generous members of the public have sent in everything from horror movies to chick flicks, and Miss Mulingani particularly wanted to thank one anonymous donor who gave 93 DVDs.

She said: "If they could come forward and let us know their details that would be great, as I know my sister would like to write a letter thanking them.

"We've started sending all the donated DVDs already; the packages can't be over a certain weight so we're dividing them up and posting them in stages."

Anybody who would like to donate DVDs can post them or drop them in to the Express and Star office in Queens Square, Cannock, WS11 1EA.