FINAL deadline for Love in a Box!

*Love in a Box - Deadline for boxes: NOW Monday 26th November*

Thank you very much to everyone who has already donated a box of gifts to our Love in a Box collection; we are now hovering around last year's record haul of 305 boxes, but would love to break through that number by the very final deadline on Monday!

So there is still time to make a box and if you need an extra leaflet, please find these just inside the double doors from the Apple Courtyard (opposite the visitor toilets). This is also the right place to leave your completed boxes.

You can still see the running total, updated daily, on the thermometer on the PTA noticeboard near the gymnasium.

Before the Mustard Seed Relief Mission collects the boxes later this month we have to check each box to ensure it has suitable contents and the correct donation, before sealing them. The donation of £4 per box covers the cost of transporting it to Eastern Europe where the boxes are distributed to children in orphanages in Ukraine and Moldova.  

Our wonderful PTA had an ambitious plan to construct a temporary Christmas tree out of the completed haul of boxes so far, to inspire parents and children to bring in more boxes by Monday. Click on the video below to see how that went!! Turns out plastic tables and prospective parents' tours are not conducive to grand construction projects...... :-)

Click below to see two of our Year Eights demonstrating, Blue Peter style, how to make the perfect Christmas box - aided by a little bit of magic right at the end!

A few reminders about what to include:

• NO FOOD except sweets and chocolate
• NO WAR RELATED ITEMS AT ALL
• NO BOOKS, although picture books for the younger age groups are OK - there is no point including English language books for the children; they won’t be able to read them
• NO CLOTHES except hats, scarves or gloves and these should be new
• All gifts, toys, stationery, toiletries, etc, MUST BE NEW
• Do please aim for a balance of practical items (toothbrush/toothpaste, gloves, hat, toiletries), fun or useful items (toys, games and stationery) and treats (sweets and chocolate) however, don’t feel you have to get everything on the list in the leaflet
• Remember to include a minimum donation of £4 per box

There are many opportunities to donate secondhand toys, games and clothes to charity but this is not one of them (later this month we will be collecting certain secondhand items for the Christmas Fair). As a general rule, if you or your children would not want to receive or use the items in the box, please don’t include them. There are many inexpensive places to find suitable items for a gift box such as supermarkets, Tiger, Poundland - it does not have to cost a fortune, but it should look and feel like a present. This is a very worthwhile charity project and a chance for each Newton Prep child to transform the Christmas of another child through an act of kindness. We have already seen many wonderful boxes this week and your generosity is greatly appreciated.

If you have the time or the means to help further, please consider:

• giving up a bit of time to help check boxes in the morning after drop-off (sign in first at Reception)
• making a donation of money (either to the charity directly, or specifically to buy additional items for boxes)
• giving quantities of useful items (e.g. a parent who is a dentist has generously donated a large number of children’s toothbrushes and toothpaste to top up many of our boxes). If you have a large quantity of wrapped sweets or chocolate - e.g. leftover from Halloween - or multi-packs of surplus items for children’s party bags, etc, we can make use of these too. 

If you have any questions, please contact Naomi McAllister via classlist.com