Christmas boxed up or world's poorest children

Disadvantaged children across the world will receive gifts this Christmas - thanks to the generosity and goodwill of the Exeter community and flexible workplace provider Regus.

Over the last few weeks, individuals and groups have donated over 300 present-filled shoeboxes at the local Regus centres at Southernhay Gardens and Exeter Business Park which have supported the ‘Operation Christmas Child’ appeal for the third year running. The Exeter centres are part of a network of over 300 Regus centres in the UK which together collected over 15,000 boxes.

Run in conjunction with international relief charity Samaritan’s Purse, the appeal involved filling shoeboxes with small toys, sweets and other gifts to send to children overseas living in refugee camps, orphanages, homeless shelters and impoverished neighbourhoods.

Richard Morris, CEO of Regus in the UK, said: “Operation Christmas Child is a very worthwhile cause and we’re delighted that our local network of Regus centres could help by acting as drop off points again this year. We’d like to extend our thanks to all the local businesses, schools, groups and individuals who got involved in the appeal and brought in their shoeboxes to our centres.”

Since the Operation Christmas Child appeal launched 22 years ago, over 124 million children in 150 countries around the world have received a Christmas shoebox.

Regus operates a global network of flexible, modern work spaces including business lounges, meeting rooms and day offices. See www.regus.co.uk or www.operationchristmaschild.org.uk