WHAT a difference you've made this Christmas - 90,000 of you!

That's the number of Christmas boxes being distributed to needy children in Eastern Europe this Christmas.

Organiser Bob James, with his team of volunteers, has been receiving them from schools, businesses and individuals throughout Worcestershire, Warwickshire and the Cotswolds.

And volunteer Jane Wilson, with the Evesham branch of Samaritan's Purse Operation Christmas Child has seen at first hand the difference present-filled shoeboxes make to the lives of deprived children.

Jane Wilson, aged 46, of Birch Tree Grove in Pershore, travelled to war-torn Croatia this month with volunteers to hand out shoeboxes to children in refugee camps and orphanages.

Jane, a teaching assistant at a Worcester primary school, has worked with the charity for four years and has returned from the trip with fond memories of the children she met.

She described her first meeting with the children at a refugee camp in Rokovci.

"The children ran to the minibuses. The first child came to me and stayed for 10 minutes clutching my hand. It was a wonderful feeling," she said.

This was her first visit of the four-day trip, which would see her meet some of the country's poorest children.

"There was a sadness in their eyes, even if some of them were too young to know what they've been through. The shoeboxes made a real difference and they were all grateful for what they got. It might be the only thing they get the whole year.

At each refugee camp and orphanage, the volunteers sang Christmas carols and songs, which really touched the hearts of the Croatian people, especially at an orphanage in Vinkovci.

"While we were singing, a little girl called Christina was staring at me intently. I put my arms out and she ran towards me and I grabbed her and swung her around and she touched my face and kissed me."

She added: "I've often looked at the shoeboxes and wondered if they really make a difference. Now I know that they do."