A NEW charity base was being opened on Thursday which will send 5,000 shoeboxes full of Christmas gifts to children in the former Russian Republic of Belarus.

For the first time, Bolton has been chosen to open a warehouse to receive shoeboxes donated by generous people from the town.

The new building in Horwich was being opened this afternoon by a local celebrity - but organisers were remaining tight-lipped about who was cutting the ribbon.

Volunteer David Hawes said: "It's a secret that we want to keep to ourselves until the ribbon is cut!"

The warehouse will be the hub for Operation Christmas Child, which last year, collected and delivered more than one million shoeboxes from people in the UK.

People in Bolton have received leaflets from the charity asking for shoeboxes to be delivered to the new warehouse at 51 Winter Hey Lane, Horwich.

There, 110 volunteers will check, sort and dispatch the shoeboxes until Saturday, December 10.

The volunteers will ensure there are no liquids in the boxes which could spill and damage the rest of the contents. They will also be taking out any war-related toys.

Mr Hawes said: "The kind of things we want in the boxes is soap, flannels, crayons, pencils and note pads because the children in Belarus have very little writing equipment."

He added: "It's great news for people in Bolton that they can now send their love in a box from their own warehouse. We have already processed about 2,000 boxes and we haven't officially opened yet! But we really want to add to that good start and get up to 5,000."

Once the boxes are checked, they are sealed and put in a lorry which takes them to Belarus.

For more information call Margaret Broadfoot on 01204 690283 or David Hawes on 01204 693727 .