A SUMMERTOWN mum and Tibetan refugee has donated boxes and boxes of clothes to some of the planet's poorest children.

Lady Sedhar Ball does not know her official birthday and was only given a date of birth by Dr Graham's Homes, a school in India set to benefit from her generosity.

The mother-of-three, who unofficially turns 60 later this year, is urging others to donate second-hand clothes, books and toys to those in need.

The former actress said it was about raising awareness and urged other retirees to do something similar.

She added: "With the help of friends and through hosting a few dinner parties we have got together 26 boxes and three suitcases of used clothes, books, VHS tapes and other toys for children in India and Tibet.

"I want people to see that if I can do it then they can too.

"There are plenty of retired people around and we just have so much here and so much we can give."

Several of the boxes will be heading to Dr Graham's Homes in West Bengal, which was founded in 1900 as a home for orphaned and abandoned Anglo-Indian children.

Lady Ball began her education there in 1964, and the charity-run school gave her a back-dated birthday of December 13, 1956.

She said: "I'm always doing what I can to donate to the school and I want to keep doing it.

"When I was a little girl I was taken out of Tibet and two of us were put in the school and it was wonderful.

"Our housemaster Jean Burns, who sadly passed away in 2010, was just an amazing lady."

On a recent visit to India with her husband Sir John Ball, an Oxford professor, the 59-year-old felt compelled to collate a shipment of donations for some of its poorer regions.

She said: "In some areas there are stray dogs living happier lives than some of the children - we need to give them anything we can.

"I was teaching out there for a while and I was having to teach the teachers as well - it's a bad situation for so many young kids.

"Because of its rich areas, such as Mumbai, India doesn't get any help at all and I want to raise awareness to what is going on out there."

The shipment was packed into the van with the help of workmen from a nearby site in Beechcroft Road while the van itself was driven by another former Dr Graham's Homes pupil as a favour.

The boxes will also be heading to the Himalayan School in Darjeeling, a number of Indian village schools and a refugee school in Maharashtra.