CHILDREN at a York primary school have been putting others first in the run up to Christmas again this year.

Archbishop of York Junior School in Bishopthorpe are long-term supporters of the ‘Love in a Box’ shoebox appeal organised by the Children in Distress charity and despite everything this year has brought, the school community’s determined commitment to this charity was just as strong as ever.

Teachers Sally Sutton and Tracey Richards, who in 2013 were lucky enough to visit Romania and see first-hand the work of the charity, received a steady flood of contributions all morning in the form of over 200 carefully wrapped and filled shoeboxes, gift items – including beautiful sewn bags, numerous lovingly created hand-knitted hats and soft toys - and more than £700 in monetary contributions.

They said: “It was so wonderful to see the thoughtful, generous gifts that families and individuals had assembled to make their shoeboxes special for every single person that will receive them. Having seen where these gifts go, we know just how precious these boxes are and how they will be treasured for years to come.

"Everyone arriving with a shoebox had a little story to tell about what they had brought which clearly showed the love and care that had gone into every Christmas shoebox. We feel very blessed that our school, church and community joined together to demonstrate support for this charity and help to continue the work that one of the founder members of Children in Distress, Eddie Errington, began 30 years ago. Sadly, Eddie is no longer with us but his legacy lives on which is testament to his devotion to the children of Romania for whom he worked so hard. All the donated items are now safely on their way and we would like to thank everyone, from the bottom of our hearts, who helped to make this year’s collection such a success."