Residents at Milford House Care Home in Laverstock have put together 30 Christmas Boxes which will be sent abroad to those who might not otherwise receive any gifts for Christmas. 

The initiative, organised by The House of Opportunity, asks the local community to put together wrapped shoe boxes which cater for boys and girls of differing ages as well as men and women. 

Residents, staff, family and friends at the home have been busy collecting items and making up the boxes for the past month and have just delivered them to the collection depot at River Bourne Community Farm. 

To further support the appeal a group of staff members spent a morning volunteering at the depot checking the contents of the boxes, making sure they were correctly labelled up and filling large packing boxes ready for despatch overseas.

Gemma Hicks, general manager at Milford House Care Home, said: “This is such a great initiative which we have been delighted to support and residents and staff have enthusiastically risen to the challenge.

"We are also extremely grateful to everyone who donated items that have enabled us to put together 30 boxes which exceeded our expectations.

"It was also great that some of our staff members were able to go and volunteer at the depot checking and sorting the boxes and see the process through to the end.”

Claudine Alonsagay, deputy manager at the home, and one of the staff members who volunteered at the depot, said: “It was humbling to see how many boxes were being delivered and sorted and how much trouble and thought people had put into gathering items. 

It was also great to be part of the team of volunteers, even just for a morning, who came and went with such enthusiasm, and we hope that the boxes we have made up ourselves and those from the wider community bring some joy to their recipients at this very special time of year.”