A ROTARY club is once again appealing for old sewing machines to help villagers in Malawi.

Two years ago, the Rotary Club of St Asaph collected 154 mainly old, hand-operated sewing machines which were then refurbished and sent to specialised training centres in Malawi and Tanzania.

Since then, the club has had further offers of these sewing machine and as a result, had decided to launch a second project to collect unwanted machines to send to the country in South Eastern Africa.

Tom Yuille, president of the St Asaph Rotary Club who was at the ‘needlepoint’ of the appeal the first time around, said: “On this occasion, the Rotary club has linked up with a charity called Krizevac project who arrange for the transport of sewing machines to Malawi. The machines are refurbished in Malawi then donated to disadvantaged individuals who are trained in their use to enable them to set up a small business.

“From our experience two years ago, we know this can make a huge difference to the lives of these individuals and their families.”

The club is interested in receiving old hand-operated sewing machines and also electric machines that are no longer wanted. Any readers who have a machine that they are willing to donate can contact adwils@aol.com or telephone 01745 583738