KNAPHILL residents and businesses have donated a van load of winter clothing and emergency supplies for the Turkish people whose lives have been devastated by the recent earthquake in the north of the country.

They responded immediately to an appeal by Siliz Dinc, who runs Knaphill Café on Anchor Hill.

Siliz said she was overwhelmed by the generosity of the local people.

“It made me so happy. When I saw what had happened in Turkey, I was crying,” she said.“I thought that maybe people would send in four or five boxes and bags but it was so much, it just made me happy and smiling.

“I’ve been running this café for 15 years and everyone around here knows me.”

Some of the aid donated to the appeal by Knaphill residents and businesses, that has been sent out to Turkey (Picture supplied)

Siliz posted the appeal on the café’s Facebook page asking for “donations of winter clothing like coats and jumpers, clothing for children, baby food, nappies, shoes and anything you want to donate to help Turkey in these unfortunate times.”

By the next morning, bags and boxes of donations had been delivered to the café and Siliz’s son, Timur was able to fill the back of a van to be sent on.

He tried to drop off the donation at a collection site at Twickenham in West London, but it had been inundated with supplies from around the country and his load would have been in a stockpile, waiting to be delivered.

“So I took them to North London, where there was another collection point,” Timur said. “They told me they will be shipped to Turkey yesterday morning.

“For now, we won’t be able to send anything more and we are waiting for an update on the situation.”

He posted a message of thanks, saying: “We all have come together as one and I really am proud of Knaphill.

“I want to give a personal thank you to everyone in Knaphill, and we are proud of the whole community.”