Pens, paper, books and toys, all donated by Hampshire Chronicle readers, are helping to bring back a sense of normality to the lives of Iraq's children.

The items were collected and dispatched to the wartorn country following appeals by two Winchester soldiers.

Sgt Edward Arnold was stationed in Umm Qasr during the conflict and, through his wife, Karen, he made an appeal to Chronicle readers to send in stationery and other articles so the youngsters in the city could return to school and begin picking up the pieces of everyday life again.

Captain Monica Clutson, who was serving in Basra, made a similar appeal through her father, Lt Col John Clutson, who is in charge of the Army Cadets in Winchester.

Both helped distribute the gifts to schools in Iraq.

Donations collected by Karen were shared between a girls' school which was gutted following the end of the second Gulf conflict, and a kindergarten.

"Neither school was expecting the new equipment," said Sgt Arnold, speaking from his home in Winchester during a brief spell of leave.

"They were even more astonished to hear that it didn't come from the British government, but were things the people of Winchester had donated themselves."

Sgt Arnold and his colleagues in the 23 Pioneer Regiment also helped with some DIY while they were there to brighten up the school.

"One minute we were soldiers, the next we were painters and decorators," he said.

"We distributed the toys and decked the place out with streamers and balloons. It was nice that we could do something for them. I'm not usually a softy but it touched me doing that and the way people gave without thinking."

Capt Clutson, whose father mobilised the Army Cadets throughout Hampshire to collect stationery for Iraqi students, was involved with the refurbishment of another school in the city of Basra, where the work of the army is helping to get Iraq back on its feet.