WOKING schoolchildren have donated Christmas presents for disadvantaged people in Central and Eastern Europe.

The donations from Woking High School and Halstead Preparatory School in Horsell are part of the Rotary Shoebox Scheme run locally by the Rotary Club of Woking.

The schools have been taking part in the scheme for a number of years. Empty shoeboxes are provided by the Rotary Club to be filled with toys, toiletries, educational items or household goods for all ages.

The boxes are labeled according to the appropriate age range of their contents.

The Rotary Club has been collecting filled boxes from the schools since the end of last month and are sending them to the scheme’s organisers based in Oldham.

The boxes will be sent in time for Christmas to Romania, Belarus, Moldova, Ukraine, Bulgaria, Albania and Kosovo where volunteers will deliver them to local families.

A Rotary Club spokesman said: “We are very grateful to the pupils and staff of Woking High School and Halstead School for their help and participation in this very worthwhile scheme. It does a lot to bring some very welcome seasonal cheer to disadvantaged people in Eastern Europe.”