Christmas has been and gone for another year, but in a documentary on S4C, Nadolig Mewn Bocs Esgidiau, the festive spirit continues as we celebrate twenty years since the launch of the Christmas Shoebox Appeal.
The appeal started in Wrexham in 1990 following the revolution in Romania. Old shoeboxes were filled with presents and treats for young girls and boys and sent to Romania. Similar boxes are now sent to countries across the globe.
In the programme, broadcast on Sunday, 3 January, two volunteers, Anglesey pensioner Mair Parry and designer, John Thirsk, from Caernarfon return to Romania.
Mair has worked with the appeal since 2001 and her experiences with the charity have led her to volunteer with other organisations too. As a result, she has been to a number of troubled countries such as Belarus and Mozambique. In the programme, Mair returns to Romania to explore the impact of the appeal on the country and its people.
John was one of the volunteers who travelled to Oradea in Romania with the first-ever appeal. We follow him as he revisits his past on an emotional journey.
"I haven't been back to Romania since 1990 and I'm a bit apprehensive about what to expect. Do the orphans of the early 90s have their own families now? What has happened to them? Did we have any impact on their lives twenty years ago?" John says.
We also follow the journey of this year's boxes, generously filled by the children of Ysgol Llandrygan, Anglesey, and chat to children who have received boxes in previous years.
"There's so much love in these boxes and it's a unique experience to see the pleasure and satisfaction on the faces of the Romanian children. I know we can't ever change the world, but we can change the life of a child for a time with these boxes," adds Mair.
© 2010 S4C
O Gymru / Made in Wales