A CHARITY which re-homes mistreated street dogs in war-torn Afghanistan is challenging city students to design its first collection box.

Former Royal Marine Paul "Pen" Farthing – who founded the Nowzad Dogs charity after a tour of duty in Helmand Province – will be in Nottingham on Monday.

He will meet architectural technology students at Nottingham Trent University to officially launch the week-long project.

Students will be challenged to work in groups to design and build the boxes which will reflect Afghan architecture.

They will present their final designs on Friday and the winning design will become the charity's official collection box.

Nowzad Dogs helps to find homes for stray dogs which have been left to fend for themselves.

Shortly after Pen arrived in the town of Now Zad with 42 Commando Royal Marines on a mission to provide security for civilians, he was inspired to start the charity after breaking up a dog fight and befriending one of the dogs involved.

The dog then followed him back to his military compound and was followed by five more undernourished dogs, one carrying six puppies.

Pen and two other marines built a shelter for the dogs – and they went from scavenging food to two decent meals a day, courtesy of left over military rations. The charity now tries to care for many more dogs. More details at www.nowzaddogs.co.uk