Year seven and eight students from Sponne School in Towcester filled decorated shoe boxes with seasonal presents as part of Operation Christmas Child. The pupils were inspired to take part in the annual appeal, which is organised by the Christian charity, Samaritan’s Purse, after being shown a video highlighting the lives of impoverished children worldwi de who would not otherwise receive Christmas presents.
The school’s head of year eight, Audrey Freeman, said: “They were shown the dvd during a special assembly just before half term and it was a bit of an eye-opener for them. Then they used the school break to collect the gifts and it has encouraged quite a lot of teamwork. “We have been taking part in the appeal for years.
Last year we raised around 100 boxes so we are aiming for a similar amount this year.” Operation Christmas Child is the world’s largest children’s Christmas project and enables individuals, families, schools, churches, businesses and other organisations to fill ordinary shoe boxes with small toys, school supplies, sweets, and other gifts for needy children.
Last year the appeal sent 1.24 million shoe boxes from the UK to children in hospitals, orphanages, homeless shelters and impoverished neighbourhoods.