IMPOVERISHED children in war-torn and volatile areas of the world will receive presents from Dunmow schoolchildren this Christmas, thanks to a charity scheme. Children at St Mary s Primary School in Dunmow are taking part in Operation Christmas Child, a n

IMPOVERISHED children in war-torn and volatile areas of the world will receive presents from Dunmow schoolchildren this Christmas, thanks to a charity scheme.

Children at St Mary's Primary School in Dunmow are taking part in Operation Christmas Child, a national project run by the charity Samaritan's Purse.

School admin assistant Shirley Golding said: "Children at the school have been encouraged to fill shoeboxes with items to be sent to children who would otherwise receive nothing.

"Last year 34,000 boxes were sent out from the Chelmsford warehouse alone, to parts of the world including Romania, Bosnia and Kosovo.

"The children really enjoy doing this and many of them go out and buy items specifically to send them in the shoeboxes.

"A couple of Samaritan's Purse representatives came in and showed the children a DVD that showed some of the boxes being opened by the children receiving them, who were overwhelmed.

"I think it gives the children a sense of what goes on in the world, and how lucky they are to receive all the presents they do - it helps them realise that there are children out there who really do have nothing.