A charity which has won the hearts of residents in a north Durham community is in top gear to meet the needs of child victims of war, poverty, famine, disease and natural disaster.

Operation Christmas Child based in Derwentside last year saw 17,000 shoeboxes filled with gifts by children or adults from the area go to 17,000 disadvantaged people in Hungary.

Boxes received in this year's appeal are destined for children in Kyrgyzstan, the former Soviet Republic bordering China.

Derwentside District Council chairman Councillor Elizabeth Council and council leader Councillor Alex Watson visited the regional operations centre for the Shoe Box Appeal, which is located in a factory unit in Leadgate.

Coun Watson said: "Derwentside can be proud of the commitment of local volunteers involved in the 2005 Shoebox Appeal.

"They are truly unsung heroes, giving their time to help disadvantaged children. I cannot praise them enough - it is reassuring to know that there are unselfish people out there whose only reward is knowing they are bringing joy and happiness to less fortunate children."

The local campaign was kick started by a visit of the OCC Red Box bus to St Mary's School, Blackhill in October.

Consett was one of the 25 key towns and cities visited by the Operation Christmas Child team, led by the project founder Dave Cooke, using a converted double decker bus on an 1,800 mile trip.

Area volunteer co-ordinator, Kelvin Ashley said: "The Box Bus was a real boost to all the hard work put in by many people in Derwentside and County Durham to help make this year's campaign successful.

"Last year we collected over 17,000 boxes and we will be going all out to see if we can do even better this year."

Schools like St Mary's RC Church, Blackhill, are very important to our campaign and we are fortunate in this area that we have schools, churches, businesses, community groups and individuals all contributing boxes to help- but we can always do with more."

Last year the Durham OCC warehouse at Consett - covering County Durham and parts of Teesside and North Yorkshire - handled over17,000 shoe boxes from schools, businesses, organisations and individuals.

Details of drop off points can be found on www.samaritanspurse.uk.com.