Operation Christmas Child is the UK's largest children's Christmas appeal and has been running for over 19 years. Sending a message of love to children around the world, last year, over 1.2 million shoeboxes packed full of gifts and goodies were wrapped, packed and sent to children in disadvantaged situations by children and adults in the UK. As Christmas approaches, Sarah J wanted to speak with Tony Holmes to find our more. Sarah began by asking what Operation Christmas Child actually does.

Tony: Every year we join up with Samaritan's Purse and we go around the schools and everywhere we can get, to get shoe boxes for children to take out to the eastern blocks.

Sarah: So in terms of the shoe box, you don't just send empty shoe boxes do you?

Tony: Oh no no

Sarah: What actually do you do?

Tony: We call them love in a box, because basically you take an empty shoe box and you wrap it in Christmas paper, keeping the lid and the bottom of the box separate and then you start to fill it with your love, for someone you possibly will never ever meet. You fill it with such things as toys, pencils, crayons, a crayoning book, toothpaste, toothbrush, soap, flannels, toys, cuddly toys; anything you can crush into that shoe box would be great.

Sarah: What are the kind of things that you wouldn't want put in the shoe box?

Tony: Out of the goodness of everybody's heart people do put things in that we cannot send, such as liquids; we can't send bubble bath obviously because some of these kids don't actually have a bath. War toys, anything that's got camouflage on even; I know it sounds silly but even down to a water pistol, we're not allowed to send.

Sarah: What's the reason behind that then in terms of the camouflage and water pistols?

Tony: A lot of these countries that we visit are war torn countries.

Sarah: OK.

Tony: And they've had bridges blown up. Serbia and places like that. We go to these children that have lost parents due to war and we really don't want to bring that back.

Sarah: So it's really that the toys might initiate memories that could cause them to be quite emotionally upset.

Tony: Yes definitely, definitely. We might think that it wouldn't; but it does. Yes, and I've been there with the kids, you know, they've opened the box; and to see the smile on their faces is great. To put something like that in the box you don't want to kill that smile.