Christmas is for Sharing...Shoe Boxes

At The Hathershaw College, the popular annual activity of filling shoe boxes with gifts to send to needy children around the world heralds the start of the preparations for Christmas.

Thanks to the generosity of our parents, students and staff, we have amassed a huge pile of items to fill our shoe boxes with including; hand-knitted hats and gloves, stationery items, toys, sweets, toothbrushes, soaps, brushes and combs. Students have also been encouraged to donate their ePraise reward points to the cause, allowing gifts to be purchased using the money that it is converted to.

We also have to provide a minimum donation of £3 per box  for their distribution, with staff asked to sponsor a shoe box or two, and as each box can be tracked, this will prove an insightful and meaningful addition to the process and has given a real incentive for staff to get even more involved this year.

With our staff and student helpers, each box was filled and then clearly labelled with whether the contents are suitable for a boy or a girl, and the age range of that child. An incredible 200 shoe boxes were filled on Friday 20th November 2015, but with the deadline for boxes being Wednesday 25th November, it's likely that the total will rise!

The campaign really hit home when it was discovered that one of our helpers, Kevin Kociu in Year 9 (pictured above), received one of the shoe boxes three years ago when he was in Year 6 of school in Albania.  He spoke in glowing terms of the appeal and recalled fond memories of receiving his gifts in his shoe box, of which he re-created for some other needy child. His shoe box was sent from Germany, and really does prove that this great cause makes a big difference.

Since 1990, Samaritan's Purse, who run Operation Christmas Child, have distributed filled shoe boxes to over 113 million needy boys and girls in over 130 countries around the world. For more information please visit the Samaritan's Purse website.