WHEN Caroline Gladwin heard about the first woman killed in the Afghanistan conflict, she knew she had to do something to help.

So she set up the Smiles Across the Miles campaign, which gives servicemen and women a welcome slice of home.

Mrs Gladwin, of Chalkwell Park Drive, Leigh, has arranged for shoeboxes containing sweets and goodies to be sent to the war-torn country. The charity is now approaching its first anniversary and is gaining momentum.

Mrs Gladwin learned of the death of Corporal Sarah Bryant, from Cumbria, who was killed with three other soldiers in a blast in June last year.

She said: “When I saw the four coffins waiting to be repatriated, I felt I had to do something. You can’t just do nothing.

“I was hearing how they wanted sweets and things from home they couldn’t get in Afghanistan.”

The campaign appeals for donations including toiletries, sweets – but not chocolate – books and socks, which are parcelled up into shoeboxes and sent to service personnel across Afghanistan.

Mrs Gladwin, a retired businesswoman, said: “A lot of young people in the Forces don’t have people to send them parcels, which makes this campaign even more important.”

The charity was named Smiles across the Miles by ex-RAF wife Mrs Gladwin after her experience living overseas.

Since its inception, the campaign has sent 1,200 parcels to service personnel, with a massive pre-Christmas packing campaign run with Leigh’s Army Cadet group, sending 750 parcels in October and November alone.

Mrs Gladwin said: “It is so lovely when we meet soldiers who have received parcels. We always ask people for feedback, so we can make sure the things we are sending are what they need.

“We lived overseas for several years, and that’s how the campaign got its name. When you live overseas and you get a letter or parcel, anything from home, it makes you smile.”

Run by Mrs Gladwin and four committee members, the appeal has seen collections by groups as diverse as elderly care home residents, Co-Op shoppers, Army cadets and fish and chip shops.

Southend fish and chip shop Van Looys has extended its collection following the deaths of three servicemen earlier this month.

Goods for the campaign can be dropped off at the Clifftown Road shop until Saturday.

Organising the campaign has been an emotional journey.

Mrs Gladwin said: “I have been deeply moved by the messages people put with their donations, from children to older people who have been in the Second World War, who know what it’s like to be away from home and wishing for the little things.”

Letters from service personnel on the appeal’s website show the donations’ impact. One letter from Camp Alamo tells how a shoebox from home touches the troops’ hearts by letting them know people are thinking of them and what they are doing.

Mrs Gladwin said: “The message I used to send was ‘God bless you and bring you home safely’. An old Army friend of mine read this and said ‘You are determined to make grown men cry.’ The team will have a stall at Leigh Regatta and a collection at Rayleigh Weir Sainsbury’s on August 23 and 24, where suitable goods and clean shoeboxes can be handed in. Donations should be made out to Smiles across the Miles. For more information, call 01702 712186 or e-mail caroline@smilesacrossthemiles.co.uk