MARGARET Clarke really is a little purler.

In spite of a fall in June which led to a broken arm, two operations and two

mini strokes, keen knitter Mrs Clarke, 87, of John Watson House, Wootton Bassett, completed 150 hats for Operation Christmas Child's shoebox scheme, which sent out warm clothing to Eastern Europe.

Mrs Clarke started knitting hats in March, and was determined not to abandon her project.

"I'd set my heart on doing a hundred, so I had to get going again, and really it's been my therapy," she said.

"It's helped me so much to do this, and I've gone well past my original target."

Mrs Clarke plans to begin knitting again for this year's appeal.

Pamela Clark, a local volunteer who is helping to deliver the gifts in

Serbia, said: "Mrs Clarke is absolutely wonderful. What an effort!"

The scheme's area organiser Hilary McFall, who recently visited Romanian children at a camp in Hungary, said: "I'll never forget the faces of the children when they realised that the shoebox itself was not the gift, did not have to be returned, and had things inside for them to keep.

"We are so grateful to Mrs Clarke and to all the people who knit for us. The first thing the children do, when boxes are opened, is to put a hat on. It's so cold there, and to see them all in their colourful hats is like watching a rainbow."