A housebuilder has opened its doors early for Christmas to help spread festive cheer for children in need.

Barratt London is supporting the shoebox campaign, Operation Christmas Child.

The housebuilder is offering its marketing suite at Hendon Waterside in Moorhen Drive, Hendon, as a drop off point for the charity during the first two weeks of November.

Last year, Samaritan’s Purse distributed 678,942 wrapped shoeboxes from the UK which were sent to make Christmas a bit more special for children in countries such as Albania, Belarus, Bulgaria, Ukraine and Moldova.

Anyone who would like to drop off a shoe box will need to follow the following steps:

Get an empty medium sized shoebox and wrap the lid and box separately in festive wrapping paper. Select an age category 2-4, 5-9 or 10-14 and attach the label to the top of your shoebox.

Fill with suitable gifts - suggestions on the website www.operationchristmaschild.org.uk

Make an online payment to cover transportation costs (to donate, go to www.operationchristmaschild.org.uk)

Print off the barcode you receive once donated and place in the shoe box.

Place a rubber band around the box and drop off at Hendon Waterside between November 1 and 18 (check www.barrattlondon.co.uk for opening times.)

The development should be open all week: Mon 12.30pm - 5.30pm, Tues - Sun 10am - 5.30pm.

The Barratt London sales and marketing suite at Hendon Waterside can be found in Meadowlark House, Moorhen Drive in Hendon.