Parcels to the Front and Prisoners of War

From the Falkirk Herald, 25th March 1916.

PARCELS FOR OUR SOLDIERS AT THE FRONT.

It is gratifying to know that the scheme for the dispatch of parcels to our soldiers, under the supervision of the Falkirk and District Choral Union, has been largely taken advantage of this week.  The number of parcels handled was 166 (double the number of last week), and the combined weight was over half a ton.  These were despatched in 48 sacks to the various units.  The saving in postages to the senders amounts to £8 10s, and this alone ought to encourage those sending to their friends to take full advantage of the scheme.  Work parties are specially invited to send their parcels.

SOCKS FOR PRISONERS OF WAR.

The committee of the East Stirlingshire Prisoners of War Fund are in the habit of sending supplies of socks to the prisoners of war in Germany belonging to East Stirlingshire.  Many people have given their services voluntarily in knitting these socks with supplies of wool furnished by the committee, and as a further quantity of socks will be required immediately, the hon. secretary, Mr Wm. J. Gibson, 96 West Bridge Street, Falkirk, will be glad to have the names and addresses of those who will be willing to help in this way. 

[Two examples of the activities going on around the country to support their local men.  I like all the statistics in the first one - they did like to quote precise figures for everything.  Many of the parcels would have been sent by friends and family to individual men, but the encouragement for work parties to send out their parcels by the same route suggests that Sir Edward Ward was not making much headway in Falkirk.  His plan was that comforts should be sent to a central depot and then distributed as needed, so that sending out parcels directly to units at the Front should not have been necessary.]