Garin Jenkins, the most capped hooker in Welsh rugby, has raised thousands of pounds for the Christian international relief and development charity, Samaritan's Purse, by successfully completing the London Marathon, his first ever attempt at running the gruelling 26.2 mile distance.

Throughout Aberdeenshire thousands of Christmas presents are being wrapped in time for..... November 18th!

"This is a BIG date on our calendar," explains Chris Thomson, Regional Manager of Operation Christmas Child, "because it is the final date by which the many gift-gilled shoeboxes donated from throughout Aberdeenshire can be handed in and still give us enough time to get them to the vulnerable children in several countries where the presents will bring much-needed joy this Christmas.

Throughout Cardiff, South Glamorgan and Vale of Glamorgan thousands of Christmas presents are being wrapped in time for..... November 18th!

"This is a BIG date on our calendar," explains Ted Bird, Area Coordinator of Operation Christmas Child, "because it is the final date by which the many gift-gilled shoeboxes donated from throughout Cardiff, South Glamorgan and Vale of Glamorgan can be handed in and still give us enough time to get them to the vulnerable children in several countries where the presents will bring much-needed joy this Christmas.

Shoebox Gifts Will Make Even Greater Difference This Year

Operation Christmas Child is calling on individuals and families in Gloucestershire to save their spare change over the next five weeks and use the resulting sum to buy gifts to put into a shoebox to send to disadvantaged children helped by the charity in several overseas countries.

Operation Christmas Child, one of the UK's leading children's charity campaigns, is launching its annual appeal in County Armagh from September 7th and is asking local individuals and communities to continue their valuable support for vulnerable children despite the economic recession.

"Our concern for this Christmas is that people, naturally, are worried by the recession and that they might be undecided about donating a shoebox in 2009", says Carol Elliott, District Coordinator of Operation Christmas Child.

Operation Christmas Child is sending a big ‘Thank You' to the people of County Durham who have responded superbly to their annual appeal to donate gift-filled shoeboxes for children facing challenging lives in a host of countries.

 Operation Christmas Child is sending a big ‘Thank You' to the people of West Lothian who have responded superbly to their annual appeal to donate gift-filled shoeboxes for children facing challenging lives in a host of countries.

Over 1,000 Christmas shoeboxes full of presents have been handed in by members of the public, schools, companies, churches and organisations from communities across the county, including Whitburn, West-Calder, Livingston, Linlithgow, Broxburn, Armadale and Bathgate.

Samaritan's Purse, the Christian relief organisation, today (20th May) reports success in getting emergency aid into the disaster hit areas of Myanmar (formerly Burma) and China, but that both situations remain critical.

Samaritan's Purse, the Christian relief organisation, reports that its first flight carrying critically-needed emergency aid landed yesterday (May 15th) in Myanmar (formerly Burma) and that additional flights of supplies are scheduled for today and Sunday.

At the same time, relief efforts have commenced to help those affected by the earthquake in China. Franklin Graham, President and CEO of Samaritan's Purse was in China at the time the earthquake struck and immediately arranged for $150,000 to be given to help Chinese churches with the initial relief efforts.

Can you walk four miles?

Two charity walks in Norfolk on the weekend of May 10th/11th - The Turn On The Tap Challenge Walks - are helping to tackle the widespread lack of safe, accessible water in the developing world.