A CHARLTON woman is appealing for Vale residents to help children less fortunate by giving them the gift of a filled shoebox this Christmas.
Barbara Pearson has wrapped nearly 60,000 Christmas shoeboxes over the past five years for charities across the UK but due to the rising levels of boxes she is wrapping and buying, she can no longer sustain the cost.
Orders for wrapped shoeboxes, which are filled with gifts by schools and churches before being shipped out to countries in Eastern Europe and beyond have increased from 7,200 in 2011 to 12,000 this year.
Also, due to a national shortage of shoeboxes in shoe shops, Barbara has had to buy and make flat pack boxes since 2013.
She has run out of storage space in her home and garage and has now built a large garden shed, where she can store up to 4,800 boxes.
Barbara is hoping to wrap up to 16,000 boxes this year, but to do so she needs donations from groups and churches as her pension cannot sustain her passion.
Call Barbara on 01386 861022 or e-mail her at [email protected] to donate towards the cost of boxes and wrapping them.
Alternatively, visit www.shoeboxeswrappedforcharities.webs.com or www.teams4u.com for more information.
