East Enders give Christmas gifts to the world's poorest children

BOXES full of presents donated by East Enders are being sent to poor children all over the world this Christmas. People from Tower hamlets have filled shoeboxes with gifts, clothing and food as donations to Operation Christmas Child, a charity which distr

BOXES full of presents donated by East Enders are being sent to poor children all over the world this Christmas.

People from Tower hamlets have filled shoeboxes with gifts, clothing and food as donations to Operation Christmas Child, a charity which distributes the gifts to children who need them the most over the festive season.

The boxes have been donated by members of the public, schools, companies and churches in the East End.

The shoeboxes were checked in the charity's processing centre at Woodford Green and are being sent to children in Azerbaijan, Belarus, Liberia, Romania and Serbia.

Operation Christmas Child's Gordon McCann said: "On behalf of Operation Christmas Child and all our volunteers, I just want to send a huge thank you to every single person who donated a shoebox this year.

"This has been a hard year for many people in Tower Hamlets and we are just knocked out by the fact so many of them have put together a shoebox.

"It has such a positive effect on the child that receives it and I want everyone here to know that their gifts make a real difference.

Gifts will distributed to children aged two-14 in orphanages, street shelters, hospitals, camps or whose families are facing hardship due to poverty.

The last lorry loads of shoeboxes from the UK are just heading off now and organisers say more than a million boxes have been sent off.