A TEAM of dedicated Okehampton volunteers have completed a 3,200-mile charity mission to South Eastern Europe to carry out repairs to a Bulgarian orphanage.

The team of nine businessmen, all from the Okehampton area, stepped in to offer their support to charity House of Rachel, after the orphanage was threatened with closure.

The group spent a week carrying out repair works and installing new PVC-u windows, which were donated by Okehampton Glass and Torbay-based Sierra Windows.

Director of House of Rachel, Andrew Morgan, said: 'We have an ongoing relationship with Provadia Children's Home and have been building links for a number of years.

'More recently, the home was threatened with closure because the money wasn't there to carry out repairs and that would have meant the loss of the home and jobs for staff, so improvements were essential.

'This recent trip and the commitment we have made by putting in the new windows, has really shown the authorities that we are committed to making a real difference and for the long-term.'

When the work is finally completed the charity hopes to be able to extend its offer of accommodation and support to a further eight young people.

As part of a second strand to the project, the volunteer team is also working to refurbish a nearby property to provide transitional accommodation for those young people leaving the state-run care system.

Mr Morgan added: 'The project is linked to the home — normally young people leave the care system at 18 and are vulnerable to trafficking and the sex industry.

'House of Rachel has been set up to offer a place of safety and the training and skills they need before going out on their own.'

Sourcing materials and shipping windows, tools and materials across the 1,600 miles to Provadia by land and sea, proved the biggest challenge in delivering the works.

Among the volunteers was Okehampton Glass' managing director, Andy Ewen, who led the window replacement programme.

The company's office manager, Roger Thorne, said it had been a welcome change to see the 'boss' get his hands dirty!

He said: 'We found a distribution team from Bristol who were able to help us ship the windows, but on arrival the team found the window reveals were in a very poor state.

'That created a problem because we had to source building materials while we were over there in a country which has so very little — what they do have is normally of a pretty poor quality.

'But nothing worth doing is ever easy and it's been a really rewarding experience for everyone involved — especially seeing Andy muck in.'

Okehampton Glass was supported in the project by trade window supplier, Sierra.

General sales manager at Sierra, Dave Stearman, said: 'This is a great project that's making a very real difference to the lives of young people who might otherwise be very vulnerable.

'We're delighted to have been able to support Okehampton Glass and the other charity volunteers, even in a comparatively small way in giving these children a better start.'

For more information on the project or to find out how to support the work of the House of Rachel team visit http://www.houseofrachel.org">www.houseofrachel.org