A PILE of 4,000 pants donated by people in Inverclyde is on its way to help some of the poorest people on the planet.

GREENOCK Rotary Club have supported a Scottish aid charity by collecting underwear for Smalls For All - a charity which helps adults and children in need in Africa, as well as the UK.

The group's annual appeal has been running since September, and while it officially wrapped up recently, donations will still be accepted until early February.

The Rotary Club's first campaign for the charity took place in 2016, replacing their annual shoebox drive.

In the five years since, the club has donated over 20,000 pairs of underwear to Smalls For All.

Kenny Melville - who is the international convenor for Greenock Rotary - told the Tele that he felt the pandemic had affected the number of donations they had received this year, but said that the club was nonetheless delighted with the amount collected.

In previous years the appeal has collected as many as 8,000 pairs of underwear, thanks to large contributions from organisations like the Job Centre and West College Scotland.

Unfortunately, many of these groups were unable to donate this year.

Despite this, Kenny is thrilled with the amount of people who contributed to the appeal's success and he hopes that donations will continue to trickle in early in the new year.

He said: "To the people who have donated so far, thank-you very much.

"We will probably have a tea some time in March or April that we will invite those who donated along to as a thank you.

"The club is immensely proud of the work we've done to support Smalls For All and we're very grateful for the donations and help we've received.

"If anyone still wishes to contribute we will happily accept their donation."

Those who wish to donate should get in touch with Kenny on 01475 781881 to arrange for the items to be dropped off or picked up.