South Ayrshire mums have banded together to help ease the plight of refugees displaced by the conflict in Syria.

The motivated group have thrown themselves into raising funds and gathering much needed supplies to support the international relief effort.

Troon Emergency Appeal Refugees (TEARS) is a local organisation started by a small group of mums from Troon, Ayr, Dundonald and Girvan who were moved by shocking images showing the tragic dilemma of the refugees.

The founding members of the team are Lynne Thomson, Fiona Kennedy and Julie Zorget and together they are spearheading the inititive.

Lynne said: “Our mission is to provide a small helping hand in the global displacement crisis, which sees more and more people forcibly displaced by war, violence and persecution.

“We have been amazed by how responsive and generous local people and businesses have been in terms of supporting our donation programme.

“Currently we are using Bakecraft in Troon as our donation drop off point from Tuesday to Saturday, 10am until 4pm.

“The 28th Ayrshire Scouts Troon have been fantastic in supporting us and are helping us with a storage and sorting facility.” TEARS aim to link these local donations to other agencies such as Scottish Action for Refugees, Cal-Aid Ayrshire, Edinburgh Direct Aid and Bear Love for shipment to different locations as organised by these and other charities depending on donation levels.

Julie said: “I’ve spent a lot of time in the Middle East and have Syrian and Palestinian friends.

“My kids play with their kids. They are just like us, except we have the choice to go home, and they don’t. This isn’t going to change, so we either help or we don’t.” One of the TEARS volunteers, Jo-Anne Jess said: “When I saw the image of the little boy washed up on the beach, it reminded me of how precious my children are, common decency, humanity and a whole host of other emotions compelled me to help” On Saturday September 19, the first TEARS collection will be transported to Edinburgh, then taken directly to the refugees.

Visit www.facebook.com/tearstroon for details of donations that are urgently required. Donations of storage boxes, or similar, are always needed as packing aids.