THE ORGANISERS of the Operation Christmas Child appeal in west Wiltshire are hoping this year will be the biggest so far.

Every year generous people in Wiltshire pack shoeboxes with toys, sweets, games and other gifts to be shipped abroad to underprivileged children, and shortly the charity will begin collecting boxes again.

Hilary McFall, who runs the effort in the region covering SN, BA and SP postcodes, said: “Last year was great, we had 30,693. We had them from schools, clubs, groups and individuals, it was really, really nice.

“It started 18 years ago, we did 47 shoeboxes and we thought we were great.

“It’s just grown and grown. We were in my garage, and now we have a warehouse we open all year.

“It’s all voluntary. I would say we’ve got at least 200 volunteers across the area.”

Samaritan’s Purse, who organise the appeal, have a warehouse in Melksham where the boxes are collected before shipping.

This year lorries are due to go to Belarus, Liberia, Ukraine and Serbia, with the last shipment leaving on December 2.

In the past Mrs McFall has visited some of the children receiving the boxes.

She said: “It’s wonderful to see the children get so excited, because they get so little. When they get their shoeboxes some just hug it. They take things out and kiss them.

“Their mothers are working to try to support their families and they don’t have money for anything extra.”

The charity collects boxes for boys and girls aged two to four, five to nine and 10-14, with balls, pens and pencils and non-chocolate sweets among the most popular items to include.

Mrs McFall added that she would like to say a special thank you to everyone who knits items for the boxes every year.

She added: “We do it because we want the children to have something for Christmas. These boxes make a difference in children’s lives.”

If you would like to take part in Operation Christmas Child you can drop off your shoeboxes at the following locations: l Wiltshire Times, Duke Street, Trowbridge; lChantry TV, High Street, Westbury; l Tourist Information Centre, Central Car Park, Warminster; l Melksham Town Hall, Market Place, Melksham; l Corsham Town Hall, High Street, Corsham; l Trillions, The Shambles, Bradford on Avon.

Between November 9-18 you can also drop off boxes directly to the warehouse at 12 Hercules Way, Bowerhill, Melksham, between 10am-4pm Monday to Friday.

You can also call the warehouse between those times on 01225 705775.

yES, PLEASE l Toys: Soft toys, fingers puppets, jigsaw, yo-yo, building blocks etc l Educational supplies: Felt pen, pens, pencils, eraser, colouring book, pencil case etc l Hygiene items: Toothbrush, toothpaste, hairbrush, comb, soap, flannel etc l Sports items: Tennis ball, skipping rope, small football, stop watch, sweat bands, toy medals etc l Other items: Sweets (sell-by date to be at least March next year), gloves, scarves, sunglasses, hat, necklace etc nO, THANKS WHAT TO PACK l No food: Especially chocolate. Only exception non-chocolate sweets l No medicine: Or vitamins of any kind l No war-related items l No clothing: Other than listed above l No fragile items: Glass, mirrors l No liquids: Including shampoo, bubble bath, toiletries and aerosols l No dangerous items l No novels l Nothing of a political nature l No hand-knitted stuffed toys without a CE mark