Little Troopers: 500 Christmas boxes for Wiltshire children

The initiative, by Little Troopers, is part of its Christmas Smiles campaign, aimed at supporting children separated from their serving parents during the festive season.

The charity recognises December as the hardest time of year for these children, who miss out on magical Christmas moments such as school performances, Santa visits, family get-togethers and the big day itself.

The Little Troopers boxes include resources and activities to help children cope with parental separation, as well as treats and stocking fillers to raise a smile.

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Soldiers in Bovington help pack Christmas Smiles boxes (Image: Little Troopers) The charity worked closely with welfare and community teams from Warminster, Bulford, Larkhill, Tidworth and Swindon to reach the families most in need.

A welfare officer at the Royal Dragoon Guards in Warminster said: "We were delighted to send the RDG Welfare team to Bovington to help pack the Little Troopers boxes, and we have sent boxes to 120 families based locally in Warminster and overseas.

"Thank you to Little Troopers for organising the initiative, which has brought a smile to our families experiencing deployment."

A mum from Larkhill added: "Thank you, Little Troopers. My boys are really excited about Christmas, and the boxes will help to keep them busy whilst thinking about their dad."

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Veteran and founder of Little Troopers, Louise Fetigan, packs 2,500 Christmas Smiles boxes (Image: Little Troopers) Little Troopers is a national charity dedicated to supporting service children and has sent out 2,500 Christmas Smiles boxes across the country this year.

Louise Fetigan, founder of Little Troopers, said: "Christmas Smiles is such an important annual campaign for our charity.

"Being separated from your parent at Christmas is hard, and we want to get our resources to as many children as possible and help them to feel recognised and supported, as well as spreading some Christmas smiles.

"A big thank you to the long list of military personnel across Wiltshire who have helped make this happen.

"We hope they make a real difference to your families."

The Little Troopers Christmas Smiles boxes have been made possible thanks to funding from BAE Systems and VIVO Defence Services.

Little Troopers has also organised lots of other activities as part of its Christmas Smiles campaign, including free cinema screenings at ODEON cinemas, a storytelling event with the Chelsea Pensioners, an elf workshop, and an online panto.