Edgware Reservists from B (Queen’s Regiment) Company The London Regiment based in Deansbrook Road, packed a container with 8,000 shoe boxes bound for Mozambique, in what they hope will be a world record time.

The Territorial Army soldiers, on Thursday night last week, were helping charity “Operation Christmas Child” which has a warehouse in Elstree, to load shoe boxes full of gifts that have been donated by local supporters for distribution to vulnerable children around the world. 

The twelve reservists loaded the container in an incredibly fast-paced 33 minutes and 9 seconds beating a previous time of one hour set by workers from American Express.  The soldiers had previously assisted the charity on Saturday last week loading another container with the same quantity of boxes, a task that took them 1 hour and 10 minutes.

The Territorial Army soldiers, who come from all walks of life, hope the time they set last night can be registered as a world record.  Over the past 5 years soldiers from The London Regiment have been deployed in various locations throughout the world from Bosnia to Afghanistan. They see deprivation and poverty at first hand and how it affects the lives of people less fortunate than themselves. 

Captain Gary Anglin, who lead the team, said “It was a tough challenge.  In the end it was all down to what we soldiers do best - Teamwork!”  He continued, “The sweat poured and the muscles ached but every man stood his ground and after 33 minutes and 9 seconds, the record was smashed!  Our soldiers are constantly training to improve their fitness and this challenge was a great opportunity to put our fitness and stamina to the test.”

Captain Anglin went on to say  “Our reservists are men and women from all walks of life and they feel that to be given the opportunity of helping where help is needed for such a worthy cause is well worth the time and effort involved.”