AN ILKLEY mum is appealing for clothes and money to help people who are struggling to survive in Syria and Iraq.

Vikki Coppack says she is launching her appeal after discovering that babies, children and adults died in camps in the Middle East last winter because there wasn’t enough aid to keep them warm.

Vikki, who has a 15-month-old daughter Martha, was inspired by Brighton mum Samara Levy and her charity Samara's Aid Appeal. She is now organising her own Ilkley Winter Clothes Collection to help desperate people in the war-torn countries.

She said: "We are so lucky to have comfortable lives in safe surroundings, I can’t imagine what the day to day struggle of raising a family in Syria/Iraq must be like, but I felt we could make a difference by adding some comfort and warmth to a desperate situation."

She added: "I go to Joining-the-Dots, the music and play group for babies and toddlers at All Saints Church Ilkley, and I hoped that Patrick (the Vicar) may consider providing Church House for the collection. I also hoped that the Dots Team would support and publicise the collection and that the mums in the three JtD groups would help."

She was thrilled by the response she received and is now planning to hold the collection from 10am to 2pm on Saturday, October 1 in Church House. Coffee and cake will be served throughout the day to raise funds towards the transportation costs.

Vikki is appealing for donations in excellent condition of winter and mid season clothes - coats, shoes, boots, bedding, hygiene products as well as donations to help with transportation costs.

Details of all items needed can be found on the Facebook page – Ilkley Winter Aid Appeal.

Rev Patrick Bateman said: "Even if we are well provided for we can still feel overwhelmed with our own pressures before raising our eyes to the needs of others. We can be frozen into inaction. The better response is to do something practical, even if it is small, realising that whilst we can't solve the world's problems, we can still give of our best. With this in mind I have been so impressed by Vikki and her organising of the event.

"We express the heart of God when we support the most vulnerable – meeting the basic needs of babies who are born into a world where they have not chosen or created their circumstances. Where better to start than with baby who's not chosen the circumstances into which he's been born."

Contact Vikki at coppackvictoria@gmail.com for more details.