BRINGING presents to sick children in hospital is something that takes place all around the world at Christmas.

But for the youngsters of the Bobrov Children’s Hospital in the city of Yalta in the Ukraine, a visit by the Operation Christmas Child team was a very special occasion.

The Daily Echo is joining volunteers from charity Samaritan’s Purse as they deliver Operation Christmas Child – shoe boxes filled with gifts to poor children in the Crimea region.

In the hospital where youngsters can be tied to their beds for more than 18 months so they do not walk on their infected feet, spirits were instantly lifted by the arrival of visitors bringing presents.

More than 1,000 children every year from across the Ukraine are treated at the facility that in many ways still looks as it did when it was first built in 1902.

Those unfortunate enough to stay over the Christmas holiday did not show any signs of disappointment as they welcomed the charity volunteers who had come to deliver some of the thousands of shoe boxes donated by schools, groups and organisations from Hampshire and across the UK. One child even gave a short speech to wish everyone a happy new year and sang a Russian version of Jingle Bells.

Celebrating Christmas Day on January 8, all the tinsel and handmade decorations still hung above old metal beds and from ceilings in the hospital that is only one of the few facilities that offers free treatment to sick children with bone and muscle diseases.

Receiving the shoes boxes filled with clothes, toys and sweets can be a very moving experience for both the staff and visitors. Waving goodbye as we left the bedridden children gave a chorus of “spa-cee-ba” (Russian for thank you) and continued trying on each others’ hats and sharing out their sweets for everyone else to enjoy.

Click here for Corey's blog from ther Crimea