News Shopper Operation Shoebox campaign gets soldiers' support (From This Is Local London)

News Shopper Operation Shoebox campaign gets soldiers' support

10:16am Wednesday 17th October 2012 in News By Alan Woods

SERVING soldiers have thrown their support behind News Shopper’s Operation Shoebox campaign.

Launched last week, the campaign is collecting shoeboxes loaded with treats and goodies to send to soldiers across the globe this Christmas.

Major Edward Hodges, aged 32, who is currently serving with the King’s Royal Hussars in Afghanistan, told News Shopper: “Receiving a parcel from home can make all difference to moral. “In the austere environment inhabited by troops serving on the front line the distraction a parcel brings is a welcome one.

“It can remove you, however momentarily, from the grim place you are and remind you that there is world away from this and people who love you back home.

Reminiscing about his time in Iraq during 2007, he added: “My wife would send me a weekly parcel of carefully wrapped goodies.

“The thought and love I knew she put into these would make even most hideous day more bearable - it was link to home, and her, which was sorely needed.”

A second solider serving on the front line in Helmand Province in Afghanistan said: “The shoe box in the post should - in an age of broadband internet on the frontline - be an outdated relic of a bygone era.

“For all the investments the army have made in phones and internet, the surprise of a Clarks shoebox, wrapped up in brown paper, cannot be matched.

“I’ve heard of people sending nothing but a box of autumnal British leaves - the smell alone that will take the receiver back.”

Shoeboxes should be suitable for a male or female recipient, weigh no more than 1.8kg and include a £2 coin attached to the lid to contribute towards shipping.

Deliver your completed shoeboxes during office hours to:

News Shopper, Mega House, Crest View Drive, Petts Wood, Bromley, BR5 1BT

Top 10 items to include:

• Puzzle books
• Notebooks, pens and pencils
• Small tins of fruit juice
• Dried fruit sachets
• Hot chocolate sachets
• Chewing gum
• Toothbrushes and toothpaste
• Shower gels
• Jelly babies, Starburst chews