BOLTON Lions are making an urgent final appeal for readers to dig deep and help very needy children in the town.

The charity workers have been busy preparing sacks of toys and gifts for youngsters who, without their help, would not get anything for Christmas.

But the organisation still needs more toys so is urging final acts of generosity as the countdown to Christmas continues apace.

Last year they helped 909 children in need but this year the figure is well above 1,000 which means many more presents are needed.

The appeal, run in conjunction with The Bolton News, helps the most disadvantaged children in the town have a festive season to remember.

Thanks to the generosity of Bolton News readers many gifts have been presented at the collecting venues, while other people have contacted individual lions to ask for toys to be collected from their homes. Here at The Bolton News generous donations have been made by Elemis, Paul Mitchell hair care and Clarins make-up who provided gift sets for older children.

It is hard to imagine a Christmas without gifts to open but for many Bolton children that would be a reality without the Bolton Lions Caring Christmas Appeal.

Thanks to the hard work and dedication of these volunteer charity workers more than a thousand children and teenagers will have presents to open on Christmas morning – and join in with the festive fun.

If you can manage to make a donation of a gift or toy — perhaps put an extra toy in your shopping trolley — then you can be sure it will be much appreciated by one of the families relying on our appeal this year.

If you decide to help, there are donation boxes all over Bolton and in the outlying towns and districts.

We even have one in our own Bolton News office for you to drop off donations – or you can ring one of the lions for help.