A KIDDERMINSTER community safety worker went far beyond the call of duty when reuniting a Russian mother and her long-lost daughter.
Paul Schubert, Community Safety Partnership co-ordinator for Wyre Forest, took action after receiving an e-mail from a 70-year-old Moscow mother requesting help in finding her daughter who had moved to the area with her children.
She had originally sent a message via an address published for the Partnership's strategy consultation which found its way to Paul.
The address had been published on West Mercia police's internet site, which the woman found when looking for police websites across the country.
She had lost contact with her daughter, who cannot be named, who is living in this country with her two children, and Paul managed to track her down after contacting West Mercia Constabulary.
The family is now back in touch, and Paul has now received a touching email from the mother, who has invited him to Moscow to visit the family.
Paul said the request was one of the most unusual he had received, but he was happy to help the woman, who was clearly in a distressed state when she first made contact.
"The aims of the Wyre Forest Community Safety Partnership include reducing crime and the fear of crime," he said.
"We have a strategy which includes public reassurance but we had not anticipated it having such far-reaching effects.
"I am very pleased to have helped the lady who was quite clearly very concerned about her daughter's welfare when she first made contact.
"It is very kind of her to invite me to Moscow, and I wouldn't mind taking up the offer if someone can help me out with the air fare."
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