Behind the scenes at West Sussex charity Link to Hope with the Shoebox Appeal 2025 in full swing

A band of dedicated volunteers is hard at work at Link to Hope, sorting and packing box loads of wrapped shoeboxes, ready for transport to Ukraine, Moldova, Bulgaria and Romania.

The first truck, loaded with 6,136 boxes, left the warehouse in Ferring Street, Ferring, on Tuesday, November 18.

Lisa Hector, general manager, said: "In the end, we will send around 25,000 boxes, with two-thirds going to families and the rest to the elderly.

"Each morning, Lutons and transits go out all over the country to collect boxes. They come back here to offload them and volunteers then sort the boxes."

Some of the boxes go to the Shoebox Hospital, a special room where the boxes are checked to make sure they are packed with enough of the right gifts.

Lisa said: "All the boxes are wrapped in Christmas paper. It is so lovely. The different papers are incredible. We have been doing this for a long time, so we can tell which ones need to be looked at. You get a sense of the ones that are wrong and those that feel a little light. We refill those and repack them to send out."

Cardboard boxes are filled with up to nine shoeboxes and then knitted blankets are used to fill any gaps.

Lisa said: "Lots of people knit knee blankets and they are laid over the shoeboxes. These are extra things that we send out and they are really valued."

For the first time, the charity is using red packing tape to indicate family boxes and purple tape for the elderly boxes, to make it easier for sorting when they arrive.

As well as filled shoeboxes, the charity receives donations like shampoo and chocolates, which are used to top up the boxes in the Shoebox Hospital.

Lisa said: "Some people choose to send money, which we use to buy items to fill boxes. We include a label showing who gave the donation and for those who ask, we send them a picture of the boxes we have done for them. As we are a small charity, we are able to do that."

The Ferring warehouse is expected to handle around 19,000 shoeboxes this Christmas. There are also three Link to Hope superhubs, in Rhyll, Hodson and Bromley, which will each sort around 2,000 shoeboxes.

Lisa said the appeal gets 'massive support' from schools, both locally and further afield.

Hurtwood House School in Surrey has been supporting the appeal for around eight years and a minibus full of students arrived at the Ferring warehouse on Wednesday, November 19, to help pack boxes.

Teacher Stella Sharma said: "I think it is really important they don't just donate money, they need to see where it goes and what is involved. It is important for them to be a part of it."

The school held a pyjama day to raise money and arrived with the items they had purchased to pack, as well as a batch of shoeboxes to fill.

Link to Hope has been sending shoeboxes filled with practical gifts and essentials to families and elderly people living in poverty across Eastern Europe since 1991.

It is an operation that is ongoing almost all year round, with area receiver volunteers signing up in January, leaflets being sent out from April to October and packing starting in November.

Many recipients live without electricity, running water, or basic sanitation. With the ongoing war in Ukraine, the appeal is now also supporting thousands of internally displaced people forced to rebuild their lives with nothing.