Collection of shoeboxes for Blythswood Care will begin on Thursday this week (28 October), with open doors to take in donations for three consecutive days.

The annual appeal for boxes of goodies to send to needy communities in Eastern Europe always gets an excellent response in the islands, with individuals, schools, churches and community groups all donating brightly-wrapped shoeboxes packed with essentials and gifts.

This year collection of the boxes will be taken at Woody’s Express Parcels on Rigs Road, with doors open from 3-6pm on Thursday, 3-6.30pm on Friday and 10am to 12noon on Saturday.

The collection closes at noon on Saturday and boxes will be uplifted on 2 November, with Woody’s taking the pallets loaded with donations across to Evanton, where the Blythswood Care charity has their main depot.

This year donations from the Western Isles are set to reach families in need in Bulgaria, Ukraine, Romania and Albania.

You can find a list of what’s required in the boxes and more information about what happens to your donation at https://blythswood.org/shoeboxappeal/.