CHEPSTOW and District Rotary Club has collected around 1,300 filled shoeboxes with the help of local schoolchildren.

The supply of packed boxes, which contain toys, toiletries and educational items, were collected as part of the Rotary Shoebox Scheme.

A lorry bound for Kiev had in total 14,220 boxes which will be distributed to unfortunate children and foster parents in central and Eastern Europe.

Among the many schools that helped were Wyedean School, Chepstow School and Tutshill Church of England Primary.

Chris Wilson, of the Chepstow and District Rotary Club, said: “The gift of a shoebox is a drop of happiness to the people of Eastern Europe who live in a world of poverty. For many, it will be the first present that they have ever received and it lets them know that somebody somewhere cares.”