Date:
12/2008
Country:
Operation Christmas Child 2008 has been a great success with around 129 temporary warehouses opening across the UK since 1st November. These warehouses are run by volunteers for volunteers to visit to help us get the thousands of gift-filled shoe boxes ready for their journey to needy children overseas in time for Christmas.
At Wrexham – where the shoe box appeal first began in 1990 – the warehouse is on an Industrial Estate near to the town. The team of drivers have been picking up shoe boxes since the beginning of November from schools and businesses taking part.
Entering the warehouse the first thing you see is a welcoming Christmas tree, bright with coloured lights and the Area Co-ordinator Liz Parkinson who goes to the warehouse straight after delivering her 5 year old daughter Abby to the local primary school. After filling in vital paperwork and reading important Health & Safety notices, a newcomer turns the corner to be greeted with the sight of piles of brightly coloured shoe boxes all waiting to be checked and sealed. Many have remarked that it is like going into Santa’s workshop!
The warehouse has generously been donated by Wrexham County Council and is a good space to get the expected 30,000 shoe boxes checked and packed into cartons. However the team thought that the kitchen was a bit small so they have put up a tent to have their tea in instead! Pictured Tom, Ruth & Hilda – having a well earned break!
Hilda told us, “Tom and I come every year to check the boxes as we think about those poor children who have so little whilst we have so much.”
The team at Wrexham have been joined by many students this year. A group from The Welsh College of Horticulture came several times in their college mini-bus. The students are on the Independent Living Course and told us how much they enjoyed the work. “We love seeing what the children have put into the boxes and take special care not to disturb them too much”.
Coleg Meirion Dwyfor traveled the 45 miles from Dolgellau on the West Wales Coast to take part. Yale College Lecturer, Tony Pugh brought 12 media students from the College in the town who as well as packing cartons and checking shoe boxes took photos for their course work. Students Jack, Michela and Laura from Ysgol Ruabon Sixth Form packing the boxes into cartons (right) came on the cold winter evenings to help out too.
All together the Wrexham volunteers got a total of 3 full loads of shoe boxes (around about 10,000 per load) to Swaziland, Serbia and Kyrgyzstan plus 3 part loads to Kiev in Ukraine and a part load to Romania. Liz said, “This is fantastic achievement for us here at Wrexham. As well as our core team of regulars we have plenty of new volunteers helping with the supervising and we are surprised at what we have achieved by hard work and all pulling together.”