Development aid due to leave Mansfield for Ghana

A consignment of development aid, police equipment and 200 wedding dresses is to leave Mansfield for Ghana.

It is the final container being sent out in 2010 by the charity NPAC - National (previously Nottinghamshire) Police Aid Convoys.

The lorry is due to leave Mansfield on Wednesday morning.

Crimestoppers officer Sarah Smithurst said she hoped more could done in the future to help people in Ghana.

She said: "The situation for orphans, old people and street kids is the same in Accra as any of the developing African nations.

"Whilst trying to help establish Crimefighters in Ghana I have been exposed to those desperately needing help and this container carries the things to give them hope and education, if it goes well, I want it to be the start of a bigger project."

Women's training

Second-hand defensive equipment has been donated for Ghanaian Police to help stop gun-running and drug trafficking.

The 200 wedding dresses in the container form part of NPAC's Cinderella project, which utilises once-worn, end of line and sample gowns from the UK to loan free of charge to brides who would otherwise not be able to afford one.

It also helps provide full training and work for local women.

Enough hairdressing equipment is also being sent to help start two training salons.

In the past year NPAC has sent nine containers to schools, orphanages and clinics in Africa and has taken six lorry-loads of goods to Albania, along with 357 pallets of food sent by air to flood victims in Pakistan.

NPAC has warehouses in Nottingham, Mansfield, Newark and Harrogate.