Children at Hothfield Junior School have filled 69 shoeboxes to help youngsters in Bosnia and Eastern European countries.

They filled the boxes with items like hats, scarves, gloves, pens and pencils as part of Operation Christmas Child.

The annual project is run by the charity Samaritans’ Purse.

Ruth Leech, the head teacher, was delighted with the number of boxes collected. She said: “Our children need to know what is happening in the wider world. Christmas is about giving as well as receiving and it also reminds them of how lucky they are.”