KIND-HEARTED residents in Basingstoke and Deane are being asked to support a charity effort to bring Christmas cheer to some of the world’s poorest children.

The annual Rotary Club of Basingstoke Deane Christmas Shoebox Appeal got off to a good start when members collected donations to fill shoeboxes with toys and gifts in Festival Place, Basingstoke, at the end of last month.

Boxes collected this year will be going to children in Albania, Montenegro, Moldova and the Philippines.

Club members were based on the upper ground floor, near the Apple store, asking shoppers to donate £10 per box, or take information away to fill their own shoebox. And shoppers certainly obliged, with £200 raised in a few hours.

Debra Read, of Sheridan Crescent, Baughurst, took away information for her Brownies and Rainbow group in Baughurst.

The 54-year-old said: “I think it’s a lovely idea. I have done it in the past but not for the past five or six years, mainly because I haven’t seen it advertised. The children like to fill in the shoeboxes.”

Rotary Club president Rod Clarke said: “The morning session was very good, and people stopped to talk to us. People were also throwing pound coins into our bucket, so it all adds up.”

To take part, both the box and the lid need to be covered in wrapping paper and be fixed with an elastic band. Each box should be labelled for a boy or a girl and the age for which it is suited. A £1 coin taped to the box will help with transport costs.

Items donated must not include battery-powered toys, war toys, food or drink, sweets, medicines or sharp items. Suggested items include small games, scarves, hats and gloves, soft toys, biros and pencils with notepads, soap and skipping ropes.

Boxes need to be ready for dispatch by the end of October, and they can be handed in at Gazette Newspapers in Pelton Road, Houndmills, Basingstoke, between 9am and 4pm, Monday to Friday, at Eden garage, in London Road, Old Basing, or at the enquiry desk, in Festival Place.