Soldiers and volunteers pack 2,500 Christmas boxes for military children
Soldiers, students and volunteers in Dorset have joined forces to pack 2,500 special Christmas boxes for military children who have a parent deployed overseas with the UK Armed Forces this December.
Organised by military children's charity, Little Troopers, as part of its Christmas Smiles campaign, more than 100 volunteers helped pack boxes with resources and activities to help children cope with parental separation, as well as festive stocking fillers to raise a smile.
Louise Fetigan, founder of Little Troopers and a British Army veteran, said: "Christmas is a tough time to have a parent away from home and we want to bring Christmas Smiles to as many children as we can."
Last year, 7,000 service personnel were deployed on military operations over Christmas and it's expected that a similar number will be serving overseas this year.
As 72% of service personnel have at least one child under 18, thousands of military children will miss their serving parent on Christmas morning.
From school plays and performances, to visits to Santa and family get-togethers, Christmas can be a tough time of year to have a parent away from home.
Little Troopers is a national charity dedicated to supporting service children and ensuring they have somewhere to turn.
The charity's founder, Mrs Fetigan, brought together soldiers from the Royal Armoured Corps Training Regiment, students from Bovington Academy and people from the local community, to pack the boxes, which took eight hours.
Military personnel from across the country, including North Yorkshire, Wiltshire, Lincolnshire, Oxfordshire and Somerset, travelled to Dorset on the same day to collect the boxes so they can be distributed to families before Christmas leave.
Little Troopers is also posting out 600 boxes to individual families. Families can apply for these boxes until 6 December.
Mrs Fetigan said: "Today has been a real team effort.
"Our community, both here in Dorset and across the UK Armed Forces, has pulled together to make something incredible happen that will make a real difference to military children across the country.
"These boxes are all about helping military children to feel recognised and supported."
Sergeant Mark Conway, Unit Welfare Officer for the Army Training Regiment in Grantham, who came to collect boxes, said: "It's taken me 4.5 hours to come and collect boxes for our families today but any bit of support like this does make a massive difference.
"You don't feel so lonely, you don't feel so isolated and you feel supported and valued."
The Little Troopers Christmas Smiles boxes have been made possible thanks to funding from BAE Systems and VIVO Defence Services.
Evelyn Chilaka, one of the BAE Systems' volunteers who helped pack the boxes, said: "When I was serving, I used to feel so guilty about missing out on festive activities when I was undertaking my military duties over Christmas.
"These boxes are not just great for the children who receive them but also for those parents who aren't around to know that their little ones are being treated at what can be a really difficult time of year.
"It's been lovely to help pack the boxes knowing they'll make someone smile."
Little Troopers has also organised lots of other activities as part of its Christmas Smiles campaign, including free cinema screenings at Odeon cinemas, a storytelling event with the Chelsea Pensioners, an elf workshop and an online pantomime.
More information about the Little Troopers charity can be found here.
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