More than 300 families were looking forward with excitement to today's festivities thanks to the Salvation Army.

The charity received around 2,000 presents during their Christmas toy appeal which aimed to help some of the most needy children across Medway.

Last year the Chatham and Strood Salvation Army supported 254 families.

The charity gets referrals from social services, schools, prison visitors, health visitors and from people who go into the centre in Chatham and tell them about families in need.

Each family the Salvation Army helped also received a box of biscuits, Christmas pudding, custard and some selection boxes.

Community services manager Eric Slater said: “We have been really lucky with the number of donations from Boots, Tesco and Asda. They have been spectacular.

“People have been very generous and the quality of the toys has been unbelievable.

“The Salvation Army has been doing this now for just over 150 years and in the Medway Towns this appeal has been going on for 20 years.

“It’s very likely that a lot of our families wouldn’t have toys or support if it wasn’t for the Salvation Army and the generosity of local people.”

Elaine Cutting, Gillingham Tesco community champion, said: “There are so many children that go without at Christmas and we do really like to see that children have something to open on Christmas morning.”