A charity worker is appealing for the assistance of Bradford people to help clothe poverty-stricken children in Eastern Europe.

Margaret Harrison, of Rawdon, has just returned home from an emotional trip to Belarus where she helped to hand out Christmas presents to abandoned and orphaned youngsters living in street shelters.

The mission was organised by the charity Samaritan's Purse which collects gifts for needy children through its Operation Christmas Child programme.

Mrs Harrison, a retired teacher, is project co-ordinator for the Bradford area and was taking part in her first trip abroad with the charity.

Now she is appealing for the Bradford public to help by knitting or donating clothes after being horrified at the hardship she witnessed.

She said: "We packed lots of clothes for ourselves but most people came back with empty suitcases - the poverty there was appalling. When I came back home I found it very hard to accept how much we have over here. It was difficult to adjust."

Mrs Harrison spent four days in the Belarus capital Minsk from Saturday, January 8 - two days after the Russian Orthodox Church celebrates Christ-mas.

She said: "I expected the poverty of the children to show by the clothes they were wearing but it didn't because they were dressed up in their best clothes for the occasion when we handed out the presents," she said. "It wasn't until we went to people's homes that we saw the real situation.

"They are short of clothes. Before our next Operation Christmas Child campaign we need knitters to produce hats, scarves and gloves for children in the coldest regions of Europe.

"There are a lot of people who enjoy knitting and this would be something really practical they could do."

During the stay they gave presents to children at a street shelter, a blind school and a babies' home which had been built by the Samaritan's Purse charity in 2003.

Mrs Harrison said: "The only presents these children got were a shoebox full of gifts delivered by Operation Christmas Child.

"But they were shown love by the staff there and that was the only thing that made it bearable. All the money we could send couldn't improve that."

"At the blind school I met a girl called Marsha who was partially sighted. She took some time to open her box and explore it and put her face right down to look at everything. She just kept picking the toys out looking at each one up close and replacing it in exactly the same place - it was as if she was reaffirming that they were all for her.

"We couldn't communicate a single word but we did share the fun of exploring the shoe box together and laughing at her surprises. It was a really beautiful thing to watch her."

Anyone interested in helping can contact Mrs Harr-ison on 0113 2503187.