FAMILIES made up shoeboxes filled with toys, books and pencils to help children who are less fortunate for Christmas.

Local housebuilder Barratt Homes in Crowthorne collected 60 shoeboxes for Operation Christmas Child which will be donated on Christmas Day to children world-wide.

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Lynnette St- Quintin, sales and marketing director for Barratt Southern Counties, said: “Thank you to everyone who brought a Christmas shoebox along to Cricket Field Grove in the last few weeks.

"Hopefully these generous contributions will go a little way to bring a bit of Christmas cheer to children in other parts of the world.”

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Barratt managed to collect 465 shoeboxes in total throughout its developments in the South East.

Shoeboxes will be donated collecting as many gift shoeboxes as they can for children across 11 countries, including Albania, Belarus, Bulgaria and more.

Lynnette added: “We support many charities throughout the year and while most are local, we feel that bringing a few smiles to children’s faces across the world again this Christmas is such an incredibly worthwhile cause.”