CHILDREN living in poverty are set to receive shoeboxes filled with Christmas presents from kind-hearted residents across Barrow and south Cumbria tomorrow.

A total of 9,671 boxes set off from Barrow and other collection points in the county on board a lorry bound for the Constanta, Brasov and Transylvania areas of Romania last month.

The team of volunteers who will hand them out to children in the country's south eastern region has arrived in the town of Medgidia today.

Tomorrow, they will begin travelling to schools and churches in towns, villages and isolated hamlets to hand over the boxes to children who otherwise receive nothing at Christmas.

Each box has been filled with sweets, some small toys such as a teddy, ball or toy car as well as pencils, paper and stationery items by residents and schoolchildren across the area.

They were collected from schools throughout Furness and south Cumbria in November before being collected, checked and packed at the Nan Tait Centre in Barrow.

They also contain items of basic hygiene including soap, flannels, a toothbrush and toothpaste and hairbrush or comb.

Speaking last month, Rhona Teale, a Boxes of Hope Cumbria trustee, said: "In previous years I've been to hand out the boxes in person, and saw the people were so grateful. You feel very humbled, and we're just glad to be able to help.

"By delivering the boxes in person we can provide a connection between the people that donate and the children receiving the boxes.

"For a child who lives in abject poverty, to receive a box with these items it means the world to them."