Advice on what to put in Christmas goodie box to send to friend in Iraq

[aznerak]

Hi there

A very good family friend is serving in Iraq. As a family, we want to put a box of goodies together to send to him as a small Christmas gift so he knows we are thinking of him.

I know its limited to a shoe box size and can't weigh more than 2kg.

What should I put in? What will he want (apart from his wife and children!) that we can legally send?

Please advise. I want to send things that will be useful

TIA

We were thinking of sending my uncle a battery power MP3 player loaded with all his favourite songs and batteries obviously, dont know if allowed to right enough havent checked! And if you take it out of the box and wrap in bubble wrap and christmas paper its even smaller.

Also small photo album and a few toiletries sounds mad but uncle always wants a new toothbrush LOL.

Oh and an international calling card

It might sound abit naff but handcream? Chocolate is a must - maybe sachets of hot chocolate? They are small & light. Ditto tea bags - maybe something like earl grey or something. Some foot pamper stuff? Again, sounds naff but I bet it would be really lovely for him. And can be small a light. Like the MP3 idea! Can you upload/download films? Only Fools and Horses would be a sure winner!

Oh you know whatd be good too actuallyinstead of the photo album, get a mini photo calander and he can cross off days till he comes home etc. and have pics of his family.

wow thanks people!

I don't care how "naff" ideas are, I just want to send things he will want and moreover that are allowed.

So apart from aerosols, are all toiletries allowed?

Will def do some foor stuff and handcream. Assume chocolate bars are no good as they could melt en route.....

Mini photo calendar is brilliant!

Keep the ideas coming

Thank you

I found this on another site

"Anything in a tube, vacuum pack or tin to perk up their rather basic rations is great - toffee sauce, (M&S does a good range of savoury and sweet sauces in tubes) condensed milk, salsa dip and cheese straws, cream cheese, fish paste, chutneys, chorizo sausage, dried fruit and nuts, mint imperials, chewing gum and everyone loves Jelly Babies.

Soduko books and magazines ? Nuts, Zoo and FHM we are reliably informed are the most popular but also the Week for current affairs and any kind of magazine will be very welcome, the more varied the better as there is lots of time for reading and magazines get swapped and shared around.

Candles (for illumination, not scent), lip salve, moisturiser, medicated talc, deodorant, toothpaste and cotton socks (M&S do a great range of cotton socks that are v. popular ? black and olive green are good colours). They also have to drink vast quantities of water so any powder flavourings in a package like Berocca, Vitamin C sachets etc. would be both light and immensely appreciated. Finally old fashioned pick ?n mix sweets"

This is all SO fab. Just spoke to BFPO helpline and they say to get things to Iraq posted by the end of next week to ensure delivery for Christmas so I will be busy this week searching for lightweight goodies

You can send multiple parcels of 2kg for free, they just can't weigh more than 2kg.

Don't send any of these (from BFPO website):

Aerosols - Prohibited by the BFPO mails network- e.g. hairspray, deodorant etc
Perishable goods - foods like fruit and meat.
Fragile items - glass.
Magazines containing pictures that might offend the cultural values of host nations, even though these might be widely available in the UK . 'Top shelf' magazines are an obvious example.

I sent DH: new boxers, new socks, chocolate, favourite squash, biscuits, flapjacks, Vit C tablets (for nice tasting fizzy water!), magazines, pictures, letters, drawings, toiletries, haribo sweets, chewing gum....