FOR many years, local schools, churches and businesses have been involved in producing shoe boxes full of small gifts for complete strangers, many of whom have little or nothing to call their own.

This year, in a change to previous years, shoeboxes collected by Classy Glass and Awards Ltd will be on behalf of a charitable organisation called Teams4u.

These boxes are destined for Romania, Belarus and Bosnia, where they will delight thousands of children who would not otherwise have received a Christmas present.

It is difficult to explain the impact that these shoebox gifts have, because to us they are filled with everyday items but hearing from Team4u overseas partners that parents would not be able to provide even one item from a shoebox, brings home the reality of the desperate circumstances that these children face on a daily basis.

”Real people making a real difference” is the tag line for Teams4u, a charitable organisation formed by Dave Cooke, the originator of the original Shoe Box collection 26 years ago.

Making a shoebox is so easy.

Find an empty shoebox, wrap it in decorative paper, fill it with simple gifts from the suggested list, add £2.50 donation (to cover transport and distribution costs), deliver it to Classy Glass & Awards Ltd by November 21, and give an impoverished child a Christmas to remember with some untold joy.

To make the task a little easier Classy Glass have obtained a small stock of pre-wrapped shoe boxes; all you need to do is fill them with items shown on the Teams4u website here: teams4u.com/shoebox-guide.

Just call 01453 890089 and speak to Amanda, or pop into their workshop for a leaflet or further information.

Unfortunately, as Classy Glass will no longer be collecting on behalf of Samaritans Purse, those people wishing to donate to their Christmas Box collection, known as ‘Operation Christmas Child’ will need to find the next nearest alternative drop-off point.