Thousands of shoeboxes have been donated from across the region to bring Christmas joy to children facing difficult circumstances.

Teams4U’s Shoebox Appeal 2022, which asks that small gifts and items are placed in a wrapped shoebox, has so far seen around 63,000 shoeboxes from across the country donated, though a final total is yet to be calculated.

The Wrexham-based charity says they are amazed by the generosity despite the cost-of-living crisis, and Simon Cooke of the charity said he was “blown away” by the support shown.

The shoeboxes have been sent to children and families in Ukraine, Romania, Moldova, Georgia, and Bosnia who are struggling, normally due to factors out of their control.

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Simon has been hand delivering some of the shoeboxes in Romania, near the Ukraine border, where some children may have been fleeing the war.

He said it was an “emotional week” for him during the visit, having been to the region earlier this year during their Ukraine appeal.

Teams4U has been working with Dynamic in a partnership that allowed for children with learning disabilities in Wrexham to gift shoeboxes to children with learning disabilities in Romania, and Simon personally took them to the children.

He said: “We were quite pleased with (it) because it's getting the full link up between people who are the same but potentially don’t have the same opportunities in other counties.”

It was the first year they had done this, and Simon is hoping to continue this in the future having seen the impact it made on the children.

He added: “It was really emotional, you see it all on the telly. I’ve been involved on and off with the shoebox appeal for years but actually seeing (it) now I’ve got kids of my own and seeing how made up they are when they’ve got nothing.

“I know my kids and most other kids round here would completely take it for granted. We get asked all the time why don’t we do it for local kids and it just wouldn’t be the same.”

He added: “Just getting a smile on a kid's face, it’s definitely worth it. People say that a shoebox doesn’t necessarily change the world, it's not going to stop wars but if you can make a child smile for even half an hour then surely it's worth it to do that.”

Simon has also thanked everyone for the continuous support.

He said: “If it wasn’t for the people out there in the schools or the community groups we just wouldn’t be able to do it. It’s the people making up the shoeboxes and dropping them off that makes this all possible.”