Shears Brothers (Transport) Ltd, which is based at Bournemouth Airport, are playing their part in a mammoth Christmas charity operation.

Every year, Rotary Wessex organises a Christmas Shoebox Scheme, which in previous years has seen up to 26,000 shoeboxes filled with gifts donated by local children and adults throughout October and November.

Each filled shoebox will cost around £20, so the operation is usually worth over £600,000.

The gifts are for disadvantaged children in other parts of the world.

This year, Shears is providing vital logistical support for the charity, by offering use of their forklift vehicles and storing around 100 pallets of goods in its warehouse all free of charge.

These pallets will remain with Shears until late January, whilst customs clearance is sought, before they are sent to children across the globe to locations such as Albania, Moldova, and Philippines.

Two giant shipping containers and numerous vans full of shoeboxes carrying donated gifts were delivered to Shears, a Pall-Ex Owned Operation, in mid-December and the process was overseen by Bob Kimber, the warehouse manager at Shears.

He comments, “I have to say a massive thank you to the team at fellow Pall-Ex member Isle of Wight Distribution, who assisted us in moving some of the pallets from the Isle of Wight to their mainland depot in Chandlers Ford, free of charge.

“The small donations that people have made in the shoeboxes may not seem like much to some, but the children receiving these gifts cherish them and it really makes such a difference to their lives.”

Shears’ general manager, Paul Bullpitt, said, “ I would like to say a massive thanks to Bob for giving up his spare time at the weekend to oversee the operation and I am proud we as a business can support this brilliant cause.”