Congratulations to estate agent Anne Golesworthy, who has smashed her own charitable record for the second year running.

Anne, who is senior sales executive in the Faversham office of Kent agents Ward & Partners, part of Arun Estates, collects boxes of Christmas gifts for under-privileged children around the world.

In 2016 Anne heard about the Operation Christmas Child shoebox appeal, run by the international relief organisation Samaritan’s Purse.

She said: “The idea is to take an ordinary shoebox and fill it with gifts for a young child suffering hardship somewhere in the world.

“I started to make up a box myself – but when I told people what I was doing, they decided to chip in, and that first year I ended up with 59 boxes.”

Anne repeated the exercise last year – and succeeded in collecting a grand total of 209 boxes.

This year, Anne exploited the power of social media to talk about the progress of the appeal and show videos of children who had previously received boxes.

Her efforts paid off spectacularly with a final tally of 268 boxes, all packed with gifts for some of the world’s poorest children. Donors include colleagues, friends, family, buyers and sellers – and complete strangers.

Arun Group managing director David Lench said: “Ward & Partners have long been active in supporting a wide range of charities, but with particular emphasis on children’s charities and others – not just in Kent but across the UK and internationally.

“Anne’s remarkable success in inspiring so many others to follow her lead is an incredible achievement, in the very best traditions of our company.”