Schoolchildren are proving their commitment to the less fortunate after filling 130 shoeboxes full of goodies for children in Eastern Europe.

Wootton Bassett School students in years seven, eight and nine adopted the scheme after they were visited by the Wootton Bassett and District Rotary Club, who are promoting the project.

Rotarians Bernard Aslett and John Loran visited the school on Friday to collect the shoeboxes put together over the Christmas period by the children and destined for children in poor communities in Eastern Europe.

Mr Loran said: “For many of the recipients these will be the first gifts they have ever received and this is a fantastic way for our children to reach out to those less fortunate children around the world. The school declares its ethos as ‘a local school in a global community’ and the success of this venture was a great example of this in action.”

The children worked in 25 tutor groups supervised by student managers Linda Woodruff, Jane Oates, Diane Jones and Ali Hopcroft.

This was the first year that the school has been involved in the Rotary shoebox scheme and it is hoped that it will now become an annual event.

Originally started in 1994, the scheme was then intended to provide children of Iasi, in north-east Romania, with Christmas gifts. Since then, the scheme has become a RIBI International Project and every Rotary district is involved in the scheme.

A Rotary spokesman said gifts are now sent out throughout the year to many different countries in Central and Eastern Europe.

Toys are especially useful all year round for birthday presents in the orphanages, homes and hospitals.

All age groups, including teenagers, have welcomed the boxes.