A HANLEY Swan firm had just sent a consignment of tracksuits to children in Africa being treated for a seriously disfiguring disease.

Staff at Nature's Own, and its sister business Cytoplan, were moved by the plight of children suffering from noma, a disease which leads to horrific facial injuries caused by gangrene, as shown on a BBC documentary Build Me A New Face earlier this year.

The show highlighted the work of Facing Africa, a charity which funds surgical teams to reconstruct the faces of sufferers.

Nature’s Own manufactures and distributes its own ranges of food supplements, and it formulated a protein-rich multinutrient supplement which was sent to the hospital in Ethiopia, as malnourishment encourages the disease.

And now staff have raised cash to buy tracksuits for children at the hospital, raising about £500, which the company itself matched.

Tracy Grey of Nature's Own said: "Every year we do a secret Santa, spending £5 each on a gift. I asked the staff if they would be willing to sacrifice it this year and give it to the Facing Africa cause.

"Sally Anne Hayden, our marketing manager, raised about £130 baking cakes and the rest of the money was just extra that the staff gave.

"We also decided to help even further, and proposed to buy 100 tracksuits so that the children have clean clothing to wear after surgery – they received a consignment of pyjamas a while ago and wore them all the time, but tracksuits would be more practical during the day."

And last Thursday, December 9, the tracksuits were sent to Facing Africa ready for the trip to Ethiopia in January.