A GROUP of women have stitched hundreds of hats, scarves and gloves to keep foreign children warm this Christmas.

Pupils in schools across Oxfordshire have been filling shoeboxes so poor children around the world get a present as part of Operation Christmas Child.

The Cowley knitting group made the woolly winter wear to fill up the gaps in the shoeboxes.

Pamela Clare, 72, of Napier Road, said: “There are about 25 women in our group and we make hats, scarves, gloves, teddies, balaclavas and blankets for the charity. The hats, scarves and gloves can go in the boxes.

“Schoolchildren around the county fill shoeboxes and we knit these items to fill up the gaps in the boxes.

“I also spend two weeks in the warehouse checking the contents of the boxes and fitting in the knitted items.”

Thousands of shoeboxes are being wrapped across the county in time for Wednesday, November 18.

Operation Christmas Child sends shoeboxes to Azerbaijan, Belarus, Bosnia, Kosova, Kyrgyzstan, Liberia, Montenegro, Mozambique, Romania, Serbia, Swaziland and the Ukraine.

The project is run by Samaritan’s Purse, an evangelical Christian humanitarian aid charity.

Roger Fenton, regional manager for Operation Christmas Child, said: “November 18 is the final date by which the gift-filled shoeboxes can be handed in and still give us enough time to get them to the vulnerable children.

“Our warehouse in Abingdon is handling shoeboxes coming in from Oxford, Abingdon, Banbury, Bicester, Blewbury, Burford, Chipping Norton, Didcot, Faringdon, Henley-On-Thames, Thame, Wallingford, Wantage, Watlington and Witney.

“We pack the shoeboxes in large cartons, load them on to lorries and they set off on their journeys.

“It’s a huge task but well worth it. The children receiving them have difficult lives.

“They may be ill in hospital, and a lot live in orphanages or street shelters, or they may be with their families but living in poverty.

“For many, the shoebox is the only present they will receive this Christmas. Some have received so little in life that they open their shoebox, look at the gifts and then hand it back, because they don’t realise it is for them to keep.”

Anyone who wants to make up a shoebox should see the charity's website to find out what gifts to put in.

By entering your postcode you can find the nearest drop-off point for boxes.

  • If anyone has any wool to donate to the knitting group, call Mrs Clare on 01865 778873.