Bovington volunteers busy packing Christmas boxes for military children
Bovington charity Little Troopers say Christmas can be especially tough for separated families
Volunteers in Bovington have been busy packing two thousand Christmas boxes for military children whose parents are serving overseas.
Bovington charity Little Troopers say Christmas can be especially tough for separated families.
Stewart Moore, a Royal Navy Officer and Trustee of Little Troopers, says they want to sprinkle "a bit of Christmas sparkle".
He said: "It makes a child remember that someone's thinking of them.
"It can take their mind off that mum or dad's gone and the children find it tough when mum or dad's away.
"My experience of being deployed over Christmas, the children would always get a Little Trooper's medal that would make them feel special.
"I would genuinely say having experienced my wife being deployed, it was more difficult at home because I've got the children looking at me saying when's mum coming back?
"And other questions that you just can't answer.
"The communications is difficult.
"You can't just FaceTime because we haven't got the facilities all the time, and that can make it more challenging for the separation."
The boxes are part of the charity's Christmas Smiles campaign and are packed with goodies, as well as deployment resources.
1,500 boxes were collected by military welfare teams from across the country, some driving over five hours to reach us. 500 boxes will be sent out to individual families.