West Sussex charity's Bags of Education are changing lives for the poorest children in Eastern Europe

Bags of Education is a project run by Ferring-based Door of Hope to help children in Bulgaria and Ukraine whose families cannot afford vital materials like pens and books.

It was founded by the charity's general manager, Simon Streeter, after a visit to Eastern Europe, where he noticed children were not in education.

He explained: "The aim is to get children into school, as I believe that is the best way to help. It's the most important thing for them for the future.

"The kids are out on the streets and not in school. I thought it was important to give as many children as possible the opportunity to go to school and started this project just before lockdown.

"Some families are too poor to buy pens, paper and other such educational materials. The poorest children are targeted for trafficking, sometimes for their organs.

"This project is helping the families who have nothing. The centres just don't have the funds for materials. Help us send Bags of Education and help children to break out of the cycle of poverty."

The project runs from February to August each year, with the aim of bags being collected and prepared for sending out in the autumn.

Simon explained: "We send the bags out on trucks along with the Link to Hope shoeboxes at Christmastime. We are up to about 500 bags but I would love to get that to 1,000."

People can register online and choose to fill a bag or have it filled by the charity. Simon is keen to encourage people to choose the 'YOU fill a bag' option and suggests schools or groups could work together.

There is a school in Wales and a Women's Institute in Cheshire that regularly support the project, for example.