Charity launches shoebox campaign

The annual children’s charity campaign, Operation Christmas Child, is set to launch in Greater Manchester later this month and is looking for generous public supporters to send in shoeboxes filled with gifts for needy overseas children.

Operation Christmas Child, an initiative of Samaritan’s Purse, is one of the UK’s largest annual charity projects for children, distributing over one-million gift-shoeboxes to disadvantaged children over the world only last year.

2011 marks the 21st year of Operation Christmas Child, and its manager, Ian Taylor, feels that support is vital to the continued success of the project.

Last year, the project received shoeboxes from all over the country, including Rochdale Heywood, Middleton, Oldham and Radcliffe and the gift-filled boxes were distributed to children in Belarus, Bosnia, Kenya and Liberia.

Mr Taylor, said: “It’s wonderful to think that we are a small part of such a large global project that is doing so much good for millions of children.

“Our main aim has remained constant over the 21 years that Operation Christmas Child has been running - to bring some happiness and hope at Christmas to tens of thousands of youngsters, many of whom live in very difficult conditions including displaced persons camps, street shelters or in hospital, or who have been abandoned by, or removed from, abusive parents and placed in children’s homes. They have very little to call their own and it is quite wonderful to see what a shoebox with some toys and other small presents can do to brighten up these children’s lives at a time of year when we are celebrating Christmas.”

Due to 2012 being an Olympic year, Operation Christmas Child is asking for sporting goods in their shoeboxes.

For more information on Operation Christmas Child, visit: www.operationchristmaschild.org.uk/