EDUCATION chiefs in Jamaica have thanked charity bosses after a shipment of unwanted books and furniture from Inverclyde arrived in the country.

An officer from the Caribbean country’s Ministry of Education confirmed that a container sent from Greenock’s Ocean Terminal in December has arrived safely.

It was sent by the Surplus Educational Supplies Foundation (SESF), which was founded and is run by former school teacher David Miles-Hanschell.

He has been salvaging materials from Inverclyde schools and the two West College Scotland campuses in Greenock for a number of years to put them to good use in less privileged communities around the world.

His latest consignment left Greenock two months ago on a 4,500-mile trip to the Jamaican capital of Kingston.

Analia Wallace-Muir, an official from the Jamaican Government, recently confirmed receipt of the container and has thanked David.

She said: “On behalf of the Ministry of Education, please accept our gratitude for the enthusiasm shown in spearheading this initiative to contribute to our education system.” The authorities in Jamaica will provide pictures of the schools that will receive the items.

SESF was founded 10 years ago to assist in the aftermath of the Hurricane Ivan disaster in Grenada and it sent a similar shipment to Liberia in 2013.

David established the foundation when he saw perfectly good items being thrown away as schools bought in new textbooks and furniture.

He saved the old ones from the rubbish tip because he wanted children in poorer parts of Africa and the Caribbean to benefit from them.

David says he’s ‘delighted’ his latest batch has arrived in Jamaica and that it will be put to good use.

He told the Tele: “Local people have — in big and small but no less vital ways — enabled me to make another container shipment from Greenock.” For more information about the charity visit www.grenadarelief.co.uk