Cambois girl selling eco-friendly reindeer food for second year to fundraise for Blyth Wildlife Rescue

Ella Bond raised £230 for the charity last year by selling her creation, which is glitter and chemical free so that it is safe for Santa’s reindeer and other wildlife to eat.

Her mum, Zena Cowell, a medic for the charity, said she is “massively proud” of her daughter’s efforts.

She said: “When she came around with it again I thought it is nice for a child so young to want to do this.”

The wildlife protection aspect of the reindeer food is an important consideration for Ella, something which has likely been passed down by her mum’s role at the rescue centre.

Zena said: “It is glitter free. Glitter is quite harmful. The microplastics are harmful for wildlife.

“Shops are still selling it with glitter in. Obviously we do not.

“That is her initiative because she wants to protect the animals, but she also wants to keep the spirit of Christmas.

“She wants to be a rescuer when she is older just like me, so she has got herself a little mini uniform.”

Blyth Wildlife Rescue has been struggling to afford to keep running in the past year, and “every little helps” when it comes to fundraising to keep their doors open to animals in need.

They have been particularly busy in recent weeks helping sea birds who have washed up on Northumberland beaches during bad weather.

Zena said: “A few months ago we were risking closing because we had a massive drop in funding and we just could not keep up with the cost of living anymore.

“We managed to raise a lot of money to keep open and then we were hit with that really bad storm recently and we had an intake of 50 more animals within two days.”

Anyone who wants to buy some of Ella’s reindeer food can ask about it on the Blyth Wildlife Rescue Facebook page or buy it from Zena’s stalls where she sells vegan confectionery from her business Little Miss Vegan.