The nuns had been moved by the plight of so many children abandoned in orphanages after the fall of the Ceaucescu regime and pledged to do what they could to help.

That was the start of a campaign which was to capture the imaginations — and hearts — of people across the country.

Tele readers have previously generously backed the fund’s appeal for plastic building bricks and wool, as well as supporting various individual sponsored events.

And readers of My Weekly magazine have donated shoeboxes each Christmas, as well as raising money to pay for extensive re-furbishment of different parts of the hospital.

Now Sister Aloysius, who is presently working in Bucharest’s Budimex Children’s Hospital, is appealing for readers to donate baby buggies they no longer need.

She and Sister Marie-Therese have worked tirelessly over the years to help, not just the youngsters in the hospital, but the elderly, street children, and families living in the most desperate conditions in the countryside.

They have also established playrooms in the hospital for children who are suffering from cancer and leukaemia.

Among their most innovative schemes has been a “meals on wheels” service, a previously unknown concept in Romania, which has provided a much-needed daily hot meal to elderly residents in the capital who do not have the money or the means to feed themselves.

The scheme has been extended to allow homeless children to visit a restaurant, where they too will be provided with food.

Sister Aloysius, a former Dundee Citizen of the Year, says, “We are desperately in need of pushchairs so that the children’s mothers, many of whom visit every day, can take them outside for fresh air.

“Being able to push the children outside would just make such a difference. It would do them so much good to be able to escape from their wards and see the world outside.

“We have enjoyed the most wonderful support from the people of Dundee, Tayside and Fife and I am immensely grateful for that.

“Their contributions have made a real difference to people in Romania who live in conditions of utmost poverty. It is really heartening to see how lives are being changed.

“Much has already been done to improve the quality of people’s lives here, but much remains to be done.

“But for the moment I ask people to think about pushchairs they no longer need for they will be put to such good use here.”

Pushchairs can be handed in to the Meadowside or Kingsway offices of DC Thomson & Co Ltd up until Friday, November 10.

They will then be transported by lorry to Romania, along with shoeboxes collected by My Weekly readers.