November is here, and so the countdown to Christmas has well and truly begun.

And Barnsley lady Tamsin Naylor, with the help of her work colleagues at Lifetime, is once more aiming to bring a bit of Christmas cheer to under-privileged children around the world.

Tamsin, an office administrator, has been busy collecting Christmas shoeboxes as part of the Samaritan’s Purse appeal.

And Lifetime has certainly played its part – with the company coming up with a magnificent 33 shoeboxes of their own to bolster the appeal!

Tamsin said: “My Lifetime colleagues were absolutely wonderful last year – and they have repeated the feat this year too! It is such a large contribution to the Samaritan’s Purse appeal.

“The Christmas shoeboxes are a wonderful gift for a child who has nothing.

“The idea is to wrap an empty shoe box in jolly paper (but leave it open) and fill it with little gifts suitable for a child overseas of a specific age group & sex (your choice). Arts and crafts, sticker books, toys, teddies and sweets (well in date) are good box fillers. Each box costs £2.50 to post, so a donation is a good idea and gratefully received with every shoebox. Chocolate and books aren’t generally a good idea for children overseas.

“The ‘Samaritan’s Purse’ then distribute the gifts overseas for us – bringing smiles to lots and lots of underprivileged children.

“I think it’s a brilliant idea and you can even follow your box online to see where it goes!”

For further details on the Christmas shoeboxes then go to: www.operationchristmaschild.org.uk