Children and parents of Goodrich Church of England Primary School have been collecting items to send to those in need at Christmas time.

The school have been collecting small gifts, to contribute to the ‘Helping Ross Together’ group, which distributes items to a number of local charities.

The children have also been taking part in the Homeless Shoebox Appeal Herefordshire. A parent of a child at Goodrich School, Joanna Chick, set up the scheme a couple of years ago with some of her friends, to provide essential items to homeless people in the County.

The children either brought in entire shoeboxes, containing these essentials, or they brought in individual items, including:?boiled sweets, chocolate, nuts, raisins, woolly hats, scarves, gloves, socks, toothbrushes, toothpaste, plasters, deodorant, tissues, hair brushes, et cetera.

Joanna sent a letter to parents of Goodrich School. She explained:?“We are lucky not to have a massive problem with homelessness in this county, but sadly, it does still exist to some extent. With the latest figures showing that homelessness is on the increase, it doesn’t look like it is going away anytime soon.”

She said that Open Door, a Hereford-based charity, organise a Christmas lunch for homeless people on December 25th.

Last year, the shoeboxes that had been collected were distributed at that event, and Joanna said this was a very well received gesture by those who were unlikely to get anything else for Christmas.