URGENTLY-needed supplies for Romanian orphans have been hand delivered to a Bolton home by a posse of local schoolchildren.

Pupils from Thomasson Memorial School for the Deaf trekked to the home of Kath and Dave Richardson who are caring for Romanian youngster Madalina. She came to Bolton for urgent medical treatment and now lives with the local couple.

Parcels of dried food, toys and presents were dropped off at the Wythburn Avenue house as a lorry-load of aid is expected to leave for the poverty-stricken country in the next few days.

Children from the school for the deaf collected the packages during their harvest festival.

It is the third year that youngsters from the school have walked to the Richardsons' home with the packages.

Elizabeth Young said: "The children were all excited about this. We even recorded the walk on video and we'll be playing it back to them in school.

"The school seems to have adopted this charitable cause. The children really feel that they know the Romanian children. We have displays of the orphanages in school.

"The new children coming into the school are told by the older children how important it is to collect these parcels and help them."

The parcels will go to Madalina's friends in the orphanage in Dersca -- where many children are suffering from TB.

Donations have been flooding in for the appeal with the closing date on Sunday.