IMPOVERISED children around the world are being given shoeboxes bursting with Christmas gifts that have been made up by kind pupils from St Joseph’s Catholic Primary in Malmesbury.

Operation Christmas Child, organised by Christian agency Samaritan’s Purse, aims to brighten up youngster’s lives, by providing them with presents.

The project asks adults and children to wrap and pack shoeboxes with a range of gifts and take them to a drop-off point, before they are taken overseas.

Since January, children from St Joseph’s have been knitting items like scarves and bags to go into shoeboxes for the project.

And throughout the year, members of the school and church community have donated items to go in the 76 shoeboxes, which have been passed to the Samaritan’s Purse collection point in Chippenham.

A spokesman for the school, Linda Byrne, said: “St Joseph’s School are extremely pleased at how many boxes we have made for the appeal and would like to thank everyone for all their support.”