By Monica Gibson

After three months and thousands of miles travelled, items from the former Barrhead High are finally part of the furniture at a school in India.

Back in July, the Barrhead News told how chairs, tables, filing cabinets and other office furniture from the school set off on a journey to Mumbai in a giant container, thanks to Giffnock-based charity Mothers Care India.

Patricia Lonergan set up the charity in 2010 and her daughter Frances is now part of the team.

They are delighted that Mothers Care India has delivered its first container to the charity’s newly-built school, St Alphonsa’s.

Frances said: “We received a little video of them opening the container when it arrived and it was plain to see the furniture was met with many smiling faces.

“They couldn’t believe the quality of the items. It was like Christmas Day – and to think the stuff would have just been flung out otherwise.

“Massive thanks to everyone, on both the Scottish and Indian side, that made this happen.

“Thanks to everyone who helped pack the container to the brim and donated any items. Thanks for all your support.”

Frances’ mum and younger sister are heading out to Mumbai to meet up with some of the 2,000 children the charity looks after and to check everything is going well.

Frances added: “A lot of things in life you work hard for but you don’t actually see the end result. With Mothers Care India we can see the difference made to these children and how much they appreciate the help, we are very lucky.”

In a bid to raise cash for its work, Mothers Care India will stage a five-a-side football tournament next month.

Frances said: “Last year, in between Christmas and New Year, my brother was going out to play a game of fives and my mum thought ‘what a great idea to raise money’ because, a lot of the time during that holiday period, you want to get out the house and maybe run off some of the turkey.

“We decided to organise a tournament this year and hope as many people as possible will get involved. It will be a fun day, for a good cause.”

The tournament will take place on Thursday, December 28, at Pro-Soccer, in Rouken Glen Park, starting at noon.

Teams of five to seven players are invited to take part in return for a £70 donation.

The format will be group stages and then knockout rounds, so each team is guaranteed a minimum of three games.

To enter a team, donate any prizes or be a referee for the day, leave a message on the Mothers Care India Facebook page or call Julie on 0740 109 4145.