A TOTAL of 396 shoeboxes have been collected by Winchester Rotary, mostly from the schools taking part in the Appeal this year.

They were:- Compton CE Primary, Henry Beaufort, St Bede’s CE Primary, St Faith's CE Primary, Weeke Primary, Western Primary, and Mini-Marvels Toddlers Playgroup. Boxes also arrived from a number of individuals who support the appeal each year.

In addition, there were some 190 woollen jumpers, hats, gloves and blankets, knitted by members of Four Marks Women's Institute and Alresford Lacemakers and friends, an annual donation organised by Hilary Dunwoody.

Boxes and woollens have now been delivered to the Rotary District depot in Dorset where they will be added to the boxes collected from some 50 Rotary clubs across Wessex and the Channel Islands which will make up an expected total of over 25,000 decorated boxes containing small gifts and useful items for educational, health and hygiene purposes to be delivered, before Christmas, to disadvantaged children in Albania, Montenegro, Moldova and Romania.

Hilary Dunwoody with Winchester Rotarians Mike Billington (club president); and, right, Colin Cook, (the club’s Shoebox Appeal coordinator)