Mystery behind tin donated to Oxfam

A charity shop manager has stumbled across a batch of personal letters and a lock of auburn hair hidden in an old sewing tin.

Deborah Read-Cooper, the manager of Oxfam in Tenterden High Street, said it was among a haul dropped off by a mystery donor, who she believes may have been unaware of the tin’s contents.

Old school reports from Homewood county secondary, written by teachers in the early 1950s, describe the female pupil, who is likely to be in her 80s, as “working well”.

Amongst the find was a separate small container holding children’s tiny first teeth. The hair had been placed in a brown envelope and labelled ‘my hair’.

Letters had been sent to ‘Mum and Dad’ and were in different handwriting, most in an elegant cursive script.

Various addresses had been written on them including one in Yorkshire and another sent via the British Forces Post Office (BFPO).

Assorted reels of colourful cotton and an old M&S carrier bag bearing the “St Michaels” logo, which was dropped by the retailer in 2000, were amongst the items.

Deborah is now on a mission to reunite the owner with the goods, but is keen to keep the woman’s identity under wraps until she has spoken to her.

She has turned detective, tracing the ex-Homewood pupil to High Halden, and the trail has now led to sheltered accommodation in Tenterden.

Deborah said: “I don’t suppose whoever dropped off the goods had any idea what was in the tin.

“It would be nice to give everything back to the lady and I need to knock on doors at the sheltered flats to see if I can find her.”

■ Can you help solve the mystery? Email kentishexpress@ thekmgroup.co.uk

Pictures: Paul Amos Deborah Read-Cooper with the letters found in the tin at Tenterden Oxfam

The old school reports found in the tin, right, which was donated to Oxfam

A Homewood school badge was found in the haul, as well as a container holding children’s first teeth