Kind staff at an Angus factory are preparing to send a converted portable cabin over 1700 miles to become a family home in Romania.
Contractors who provide services to the GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) plant in Montrose refurbished the unit into a living room and two bedrooms.
Before Christmas, a lorry carrying over four tons of household goods for The Smiles Foundation, left GSK bound for Sanmartin, Oradea in north-west Romania.
Employees at GSK had originally intended to fill the portable cabin with household goods before despatching it, but the plan had to be changed when so much material was supplied that the container would have buckled in transit.
Instead, the innovative contract workers set about converting the unit, donated by Doosan Babcock, into a two-bedroom home to be shipped out by the end of the month.
The refurbishment involved Booth Welsh Associates, who carried out electrical work, Pert Bruce, who looked after joinery and plumbing and Kitsons, who decorated the interior.
George Reeves of Doosan Babock said, “Everyone involved believed that the initiative was well worthwhile. The Smiles Foundation is going to send a photograph of the cabin in use and we are very much looking forward to seeing it really helping someone in need.”
The Smiles Foundation was set up in the early ’90s to help children in Romanian orphanages.
The concept of the organisation’s container challenge is for organisations to donate a shipping container and fill it with supplies over to the poverty-stricken country.
Margo Mitchell of GSK, who co-ordinated the collection, said 26 pallets had been filled by donations from staff and other items from The Smiles Foundation that required transportation.
She added, “Literally tons of household goods including clothing, bedding, utensils, cleaners, toiletries and children’s toys had to be sorted and listed to meet customs’ requirements, wrapped on pallets and weighed.”
Around a dozen GSK staff assisted the operation, using their day with pay provided by the company to ensure both deliveries could be sent.
The firm paid for the transport costs of both lorries and Forfar Removals, who transported the household goods. An additional £150 was donated towards toiletries.
Greig Rooney, who was GSK Montrose site production director at the time of the charity effort, said it was good to be able to give something back.
He added, “It would have been easy to write a cheque but it was an opportunity for people to be more engaged and to create something different. It was a great project to be involved in and I am sure everyone benefited from the team spirit which was necessary to complete it.”
Maria Cimpoca of The Smiles Foundation said, “When the first container arrived we wondered what people might think of them, but we soon discovered they regarded them as a palace and it was theirs. “The cabin from Montrose will change the world for two families and will be much appreciated along with all of the household goods people kindly donated.”