A GROUP of Midland women are gearing up for a major aid mission to children in Romania.

Thanks to a Birmingham businessman, they now have the transport to get there.

Darren Barton, director at GB Training, in Bromsgrove Street, has loaned them the company minibus for the journey across seven countries.

The adventurous five are Elaine Barber, aged 53, Margaret Grant, 49, Rose Page, 55, all from Coleshill; Charlotte Thornett, 45, from Oxford; and Debb Sutton, 31, from Walsall.

The women, who all work for national care agency Sevacare, which has a base in Coleshill, have been planning the trip for the past nine months and are setting off today.

They are taking clothes, toiletries, pens, pencils, toys, wind-up torches and radios to three areas of Romania after learning about Worthing-based charity Link Romania.

The women will take aid to a Farm of Hope for teenage boys, an education centre for children and a hospital for HIV-positive children.

Elaine said: “It all started when a couple of us decided to sponsor children in Central America, and felt it was such a shame that we’d never meet the children we were sponsoring.

“We thought, why not find a cause closer to home where we could get involved directly and meet the young people we want to help?.

“We looked into various charities and came across Link Romania, visited them in Worthing and decided we’d do this trip.

“We’ve held all sorts of fund-raising events this year.”