The owner of a shipping company has paid to send hundreds of donations to areas of the Philippines devastated by typhoon Haiyan.

Conchita Pooten, 61, of Pooten Forwarding International in Grove Road, Walthamstow, footed the £8,000 bill to ship two containers of donations.

The aid was collected at St. Barnabas Church in St Barnabas Road, Walthamstow.

Mrs Pooten, 61, who comes from Baguio in north of the Philippines, said: "I wanted to share what we have as we are fortunate enough to be able to do so.

"It’s all about giving back what we have received from God’s grace.”

Each 40ft high container will take a month to arrive in the country where 10,000 people are believed to have died as a result of the typhoon and millions more affected.

The first container left Mrs Pooten’s temporary shipping base in Leyton’s Industrial Village in Argyll Avenue on Monday.

The second container is scheduled to leave next week.

Members of various churches, mosques, and the local community donated money and food, clothing, toys, and toiletries to the aid effort during a collection on Sunday.

Father Salvador Telen, of Walthamstow's St Saviour’s Church, attended the event.

He said:"I was so touched to see so many donations, including money, which will go to those in the most devastated areas.

“I was particularly touched by the large amount of donations from our friends at Faisen-e-Islam mosque.

“It shows how compassion has no boundaries and how we can work together for the common good of humanity whatever our differences."

Father Steven Saxby hosted the event and will be in the Philippines in January when the shipments arrive.

He said: "I look forward to seeing the donated goods come off of the ship in Manila and to passing on thousands of pounds, collected in Walthamstow, and from across the community."

The donations will be given to the Philippine Independent Church, of which Father Saxby and Father Telen are both members.