A community-led shoebox appeal to help veterans, homeless and vulnerable men, women and children across Liverpool during the run up to Christmas is returning.

Led by Vorny Redmond, the Shoebox Full of Love campaign quickly gathered pace in 2015 as calls were made via social media for donations of gift wrapped boxes filled with necessities.

After achieving huge success, with more than 2,500 shoebox recipients said to have been helped through the initiative, the campaign is being launched for a second year and plans for a benefit event are already underway.

Evil Eye Beer and Burrito Shack on Smithdown Road has teamed up with Shoebox Full of Love to host one of its ‘burrito for a pound’ days on 29 November in aid of the cause.

Ahead of the event, which will also feature live music performances as it takes place from 11am until 10pm, Andy Scott from Evil Eye says: “The idea is similar to our foodbank events except this time you bring in a shoebox full of goodies – aimed at adults or children – similar to the ones you probably did in school as a kid, and we’ll swap it for a tasty burrito – for a pound!

“Our foodbank drives have been a massive success in the past, so we expect this one to be even bigger.”

With the Shoebox Full of Love appeal having now been announced on its Facebook page, with suggestions of what to donate in boxes and details of the first drop off points around the city, Vorny says she is still looking for further businesses to put themselves forward as drop off points as the campaign gets set to gather further momentum during the build up to the festive season.

Volunteers are also needed to join a “checking and sorting team” which will organise the donations and ensure they are safe within a Dingle storage space which has been donated to the team this year, and further fundraising events are set to be held to collect money for a van hire to help with collection and distribution.

A number of city charities and help services are once again set to receive a share of donated shoeboxes, including The Whitechapel Centre, Liverpool Homeless Outreach and the Amadudu Refuge to name a few, and Vorny is hoping the initiative will continue to be even more successful.

She says: “I think people like the campaign because it’s such a community cause.

“When you see the faces of the people who we help, that’s enough to make you want to help them again.”

To find out more about this year’s appeal or to help out, contact christmasshoebox@yahoo.co.uk

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