We run a Family and Elderly shoebox appeal, suitable for all schools to take part in. We take the shoeboxes directly to families and elderly people in the poorest parts of Ukraine, Moldova, Bulgaria and Romania.

The Christmas shoebox resources for teachers below are freely available. However, if your school would like to take part in the Christmas Shoebox Appeal, please contact us and we will send you updates, including stories from people who receive our shoeboxes.

How schools can join in our Christmas Shoebox Appeal

We fully appreciate that many parents and carers are unable to spend £20 on filling a Christmas shoebox with essential and a few luxury items. Instead, we recommend that pupils bring in one gift from our list of items to put in the shoeboxes (this will need to be coordinated to avoid ending up with too many of one type of item).

From here the children can add their item to a shoebox, and perhaps older children could write about how they imagine their gift would help the family or elderly person who receives it. Please see the various lessons and photographs in the PowerPoint downloads above to give the children sufficient background information.

Of course, if any parents are willing to fill a box themselves, we welcome this too. We also have homemade gift ideas that some members of your pupils’ families might want to donate if they enjoy crafts.