A WORCESTER charity is appealing for help so they can send Christmas shoeboxes to deprived children around the world.

Operation Christmas Child is asking local businesses for space in a warehouse during November so its volunteers can check, collect and store boxes and gifts which will be dispatched in early December to Eastern Europe, former Soviet Union countries and Africa.

Organiser Sue Tindall said: “Ideally, we would like a building within the city of around 5,000 square feet, with heating, lighting, car park facilities and access for 40-tonne lorries.

“We would also need adequate toilet facilities, a rest area for the volunteers and the place conforming to all health and safety requirements.”

Last year, the Worcester branch, which has been running for 16 years, sent 4,495 boxes of toys and gifts to Serbia.

The Worcester group, which has around 40 volunteers, meets regularly throughout the year in the community room at the city’s Waitrose store, to make toys, crafts and presents.

It relies on dozens of businesses, churches, groups, schools and individuals across the county to donate filled shoeboxes.

If you would like to volunteer to help Operation Christmas Child, which is part of Samaritan’s Purse International UK, email Sue at sue.tindall@hotmail.co.uk.

To find out how to pack a shoebox gift and what items are allowed visit www.operationchristmaschild.org.uk.

Shoeboxes can be dropped off in Worcester at Shoezone in Broad Street, The Entertainer in The Shambles or Specsavers in Broad Street.