Northumberland girl helps mum collect gifts for children 'who won't receive Christmas presents'

Six-year-old Scarlett Duke, from Hadston, had the idea to give back and help children in the care system who might not receive any presents this Christmas.

The family has set up a Facebook page where people can donate presents online from an Amazon wishlist or organise dropping gifts off at select addresses.

Scarlett’s mum Ashleigh Duke said: “I adopted Scarlett in 2017, she was in foster care so she knows exactly what it’s like for children in the social services system at Christmas.

"It was Scarlett’s idea to collect presents for kids that won’t get any presents from friends and family on Christmas Day.

"We didn’t expect to get such a response from people, lots of businesses and charities have already got involved.”

The family received more than 160 items from the Amazon Wishlist, as well as cash donations, sweets and biscuits to donate.

"We are overwhelmed by how people have responded to our page and are so grateful for the support from everyone,” Ashleigh continued.

And it is not the first time young Scarlett has set out to help people in her community.

During lockdown she made hampers for keyworkers, helped with litter picks and collected donations for Hadston House food bank.

Mum Ashleigh added: “I am so proud of Scarlett and we can’t wait to deliver all the presents in December.”

The family are working towards a deadline of Monday, December 7 to finish their collection.

Information on how to donate to Scarlett’s appeal can be found here.

The dramatic events of 2020 are having a major impact on many of our local valued advertisers and consequently the advertising that we receive.

We are now more reliant than ever on you helping us to provide you with news by buying a copy of our newspaper.

If you can, please do pick up a copy when you are at the shops.

Thank you for your support.