A Lincolnshire Echo photographer who spent eight days looking at life in Romania through a lens has had his work displayed in an exhibition about the trip.

Snapper Roy Ealden joined the Christian charity Romanian Aid Distribution and followed it helping the elderly and vulnerable in Romania and spreading the Christian faith.

The exhibition entitled ROAD on the road has already raised more than £100 for the charity in its first two days.

Roy said: “We did about four features in the Echo but I wanted to give it more legs and do something for the charity by using the pictures more.

“It was a great privilege going with the charity and to get into the places where it works. It was like going back in time – we walked through beautiful countryside and come to an open space which was like the past with shanty towns and poor people.

“I took lots of pictures of gypsies and poor people on the edge of villages in difficult conditions who had no shoes and were scratching around for food.”

Roy said one of the most memorable moments from his trip was when an optician was able to prescribe second hand glasses donated in the UK to people with bad eyesight.

He said: “It was an amazing sight to see their faces light up. It must have been like having a TV that doesn’t work and then suddenly the repair man comes round to fix it.

“Romania is a country at a turning point. It has experienced freedom but could go either way.

“They’re not looking for handouts in the traditional African way, but they are after skills in certain areas. It should be a great country.

“There is a lot of corruption but it is gradually getting there. I would like to go back in a couple of years to see how it improves.”

The ROAD on the road exhibition is at Czimmerl’s Photography Gallery in Guildhall Street, Lincoln and runs until September 4.

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