Operation Christmas Child delivers shoeboxes of gifts to needy children across Eastern Europe and Africa.

Last year, Northumberland residents contributed 9,400 boxes of presents for children in Belarus, Romania and Serbia and organisers are hoping for a similar effort this year.

Regional Manager Keith Gibbons said: "Operation Christmas Child is a win-win, both for those involved here and the children in the distribution areas.

"It involves so many people in what is really an uplifting experience, choosing simple gifts or making items like knitted hats or gloves to put in a shoebox. Others get a real buzz from helping us collect the shoeboxes, checking them in our local warehouses and loading the lorries."

Schools, community groups, churches, businesses and individuals all take part in the scheme, which aims to provide Christmas gifts for children in orphanages, street shelters, rehabilitation centres and hospitals, as well as those is extreme poverty, refugees of war and victims of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster.

Simple gifts, such as pencils, rulers, balls, knitted hats, toy cars, hair clips, toothbrushes, football cards and colouring books all go down a storm.

For further information about the appeal and to obtain guidelines about what to put in a box, how to pack it and where to send it, visit www.operationchristmaschild.org.uk or telephone 0870 011 2002.

Shoeboxes should be handed in by Tuesday, November 18.