Tools for Africa

PEOPLE are clearing out their old wood working tools with gusto in aid of a collection started by Heathfield Lions in order to renovate them and send them to Africa.

A collection bin is sited in the Ironmongers in Heathfield High Street and Lions president Barry Guilford is summoned regularly to empty it.

'I thought I'd be travelling to Southampton with deliveries once a year, but I think it will probably be three times a year with the first trip needed very soon,' said Mr Guilford.

At Southampton the organisation Tools for Self Reliance refurbishes tools like screwdrivers, hammers, saws and planes for carpenters in Africa.

This collection looks like being as successful as a scheme still being run by the Lions to collect spectacles for the Third World.

Collection points were set up three years ago at two opticians in Heathfield High Street, a surgery in Horam and pharmacy in Mayfield. The Lions collected their 5,000th pair sixth months ago and there is no sign of the supply drying up.