23 ENGINEER REGIMENT (AIR ASSAULT)
Comfort Boxes

After consultation with Maxine Cooper, the Unit Welfare Officer, I have agreed to ask everyone if they would be prepared to put together comfort boxes to be sent out to our soldiers from the Barracks away in Afghanistan and Iraq. For those who may be interested in doing this, the agreed instructions are as follows:

Please label for a male or female soldier on the top of the box. The boxes can be shoe box size and once the contents are placed in the box, the box must not weigh more than 2kgs. Include in the boxes a small letter from the sender with their address.

Suggested contents for a comfort box

• Sweets (boiled sweets, mints)
• Biscuits (Not chocolate as it is 40 degrees in the desert, but Chocolate Chip is ok)
• Cereal Bars, Crisps
• Instant Hot Chocolate, Coffee and Tea Sachets
• Instant packets of flavoured Noodles, Pasta, etc. that need only hot water to prepare
• Long Life sturdy Cakes in boxes e.g. Mr Kipling style that don’t perish quickly and have a long shelf life
• Nuts
• Snacks
• Long life non chilled flavoured milk cartons (small)
• Instant Custard
• Instant Soup
• Long life ready prepared Jelly Pots
• Deodorant (Roll on as no aerosols are allowed)
• Disposable Razors
• Non-perfumed Face Wipes
• Hand Cream
• Non-perfumed Wet Wipes
• Ladies sanitary products
• Shampoo
• Shaving Gel or Cream (Not aerosols)
• Shower gel
• Toothbrushes
• Toothpaste
• Puzzle books / pens / pencils / notepad
• Lip Balm
• Antibacterial hand gel (the product you put on your hands and do not need to wash off)
• If room and weight allow, something like the East Anglian Daily Times might be useful and anything else which might be considered to be a good read.
• And last but not least, a little note or card from you, sending the recipient good wishes and support from home.

Boxes should be left in the Parish Office and when we have a reasonable number, Paul and I will be taking them up to the Barracks to be flown out.

Kevan
April 2008