Keen knitters and big-hearted volunteers are gearing up to pack boxes brimming with treats for disadvantaged youngsters.

Operation Christmas Child, which sends shoeboxes filled with gifts for children overseas, is launching its annual Christmas campaign on Saturday.

The charity is now looking for people to supply them with the goodie-filled shoeboxes which can be sent abroad to people living in poor conditions.

Roger Fenton, Oxfordshire Regional Manager for Operation Christmas Child, suggests a sporting theme for this year’s campaign.

He said: “With 2012 being an Olympic year, we are asking supporters – old and new – to think about including some sporting items in their shoeboxes, as many children are inspired by sport even when life is hard.

“As well as supporters putting in welcome Christmas gifts and educational items, we hope that they may include something like a tennis ball, skipping rope, baseball hat, small football, inflatable beach ball, stopwatch, sweatbands or other sports-related gifts.

“Also, the shoebox could be decorated with sports stickers or drawings.”

As well as sports-related items, the shoeboxes could be filled with toys, educational supplies such as pens, pencils and notepads, and items such as toothbrushes, combs and bars of soap.

Shoeboxes should not be filled with items such as food, medicine, war-related goods such as toy guns or liquids.

Pamela Clare is part of a group of Cowley knitters who make hundreds of hats, gloves and scarves to go in the boxes and are set to start again.

She said: “There are loads and loads of volunteers. I have no idea how many we knit. We just keep going.

“I absolutely enjoy the knitting. It is a full-time job.”

Lesley Thompson, 51, from Launton, near Bicester, is a volunteer who packs and collects shoeboxes.

She said: “It is something I love and I really believe in. We are looking for people to knit hats, scarves and gloves.

“It is a great thing to be part of. You can do very little or you can do a lot and everything helps.”

Last year more than 18,000 shoeboxes were donated from Oxfordshire.

They were sent to a number of countries including Kenya, Belarus, Haiti and Montenegro Operation Christmas Child is an initiative of Samaritan’s Purse, a Christian relief and development organisation, and has been going for 21 years.

A set of instructions are available to help put a shoebox together, including how to pack one, where to send it and what to put in it.

Drop-off points will be open from Monday, November 1. The shoeboxes should be ready by Friday, November 18, at the latest.

Anyone hoping to put together a shoebox should visit operationchristmaschild.org.uk, where they can also find their local drop-off point, or call 0870 011 2002.