AN APPEAL to collect shoes for people in South Africa has been 'overwhelmed' with donations after receiving triple the number of pairs expected.

Richard Bodkin, a scientist based on the Harwell Campus, put a call out for colleagues to donate shoes after volunteering at a soup kitchen in the African country while on a work placement.

He expected to receive around 100 pairs to be distributed by the Sathya Sai Organisation based in Mayfair, a suburb of Johannesburg, but now more than 350.

The shoes will be handed out to people who currently don't have shoes despite sub-zero night-time temperatures.

Mr Bodkin, a principal research scientist at Element Six, said: “I stood with my friend Amrith, who works at our South African site, handing out food courtesy of the soup kitchen he is involved with.

"One of the people on the team had brought 20 pairs of shoes for the people that use the kitchen.

"Those shoes disappeared in less than five minutes and the queue that formed for them was three times larger than the shoes available.

"I remarked to my friend that I would ask the people I work with back in the UK to donate.

He added: “I am amazed, humbled and touched by the response from the people here on campus to this charity drive.

"I had no idea that so many people would respond so generously and all that off the back of a couple of e-mails.

"The ability to respond this quickly to a very real need is the real success."