Housebuilder backs shoebox appeal to spread Christmas cheer to children worldwide

In the first two weeks of November people supporting the popular initiative can take their parcels to the housebuilder’s Beaufort Place development in Lady Margaret Road.

Last year Operation Christmas Child distributed 900,000 wrapped shoeboxes which were sent to make Christmas a bit more special for children in Albania, Belarus, Bosnia, Central Asia, Latvia, Liberia, Lithuania, Macedonia, the Middle East, Romania, Serbia, Swaziland, Ukraine and Zambia.

Lynnette St Quintin, Sales Director for Barratt Southern Counties says: “As a national housebuilder, we support a wide range of charities both locally here in Crawley and across the country. This November, we are very proud to be opening up our show home here at Beaufort Place to help bring a little Christmas cheer to children in other parts of the world. Anyone who is looking to fill a shoe box which will then be distributed by Operation Christmas Child, is welcome to drop it off at our show home in the first two weeks of November.”

Nick Cole, Director of Operation Christmas Child UK, shared his hope for people getting involved this year. “Operation Christmas Child is excited to be able to share the true meaning of Christmas with thousands of children around the world every year, thanks to our generous supporters. We hope that schools, companies and individuals across the UK will contribute to a record collection for 2016.”

Anyone who would like to drop off a shoe box at Beaufort Place on Lady Margaret Drive, will need to follow the following steps:

Get an empty medium sized shoebox and wrap the lid and box separately in festive wrapping paper. Select an age category 2-4, 5-9 or 10-14 and attach the label to the top of your shoebox.

Fill with suitable gifts – suggestions on the website www.operationchristmaschild.org.uk

Make online payment to cover transportation costs (to donate, go to www.operationchristmaschild.org.uk)

Print off barcode you receive once donated and place in the shoebox.

Place a rubber band around the box and drop off at Beaufort Place between 1st and 18th November (check barratthomes.co.uk for opening times.)

The sales and marketing suite at Beaufort Place can be found on Lady Margaret Road, Ifield, Crawley, RH11 0DB. The development is open five days a week, closed Tuesday and Wednesday (see website for opening hours.)

For further details about Operation Christmas Child and how to pack a shoe box, visit www.operationchristmaschild.org.uk). Details about Beaufort Place and Barratt Homes can be found at www.barratthomes.co.uk