Kind souls buy shoeboxes to spread Christmas cheer

9:10am Friday 10th October 2008

By Lucie Richards

SHOEBOXES filled with gifts for under-privileged children sold like hot cakes as generous Basingstoke shoppers dug deep for charity and sponsored more than 250 boxes.

This year, Basingstoke’s three rotary clubs – Basingstoke Deane, Basingstoke and Basingstoke Loddon – are working together for their Christmas Shoebox Appeal under the banner All For One & One For All – a campaign that is being backed by The Gazette and Festival Place.

Rotarians set up stands in Festival Place over the past two Saturdays to “sell” shoeboxes as part of the appeal, which will see thousands of Christmas gift boxes sent to children in Eastern Europe and Africa.

Shoppers paid to fill, half-fill or quarter-fill a box, and Rotarians did the rest – wrapping the boxes with paper provided by Festival Place. They will also deliver the finished boxes.

Roy Sands, chairman of the Rotary initiative team, said: “It was a great success – it was the first time we have done this and we had no idea if people would actually buy boxes.

“It promoted the Rotary well and hundreds of people took away shoebox information leaflets to make up their own. Many shoeboxes are already coming in.”

Anyone making up their own shoebox must attach labels specifying whether it is for a girl or boy and the intended age group, and donate £1 per box to cover transport costs.

The lid and box should be covered separately in wrapping paper and typical gifts can include soft toys, dolls, picture and colouring books, crayons or pencils, warm underwear, mittens, socks and skipping ropes.

Items not allowed are perishable foods, liquids, sharp objects, war-related articles, fragile items or books or leaflets of a religious, racial or political nature.

Schools are being encouraged to be competitive as well as generous. There is a £100 reward for the infant, junior and senior schools that donate the most boxes per pupil – and £250 for the school that donates the most boxes per pupil overall.

Rainbows, Brownies and Guides, as well as Beavers, Cubs and Scouts will get the same incentives.

Completed boxes can be dropped off until the end of the month, between 9am and 5pm, at Gazette House, in Pelton Road, Basingstoke, Alan Gibson Volvo, in Brunel Road, Basingstoke, Alan Gibson Fiat, on the A30, Old Basing, or at Planning Lighting Maintenance, Roystan House, Andover Road, Whitchurch.