MILLIONS of magical moments mean two Darlington mothers could soon receive a major international award.

Melissa Brunskill gave up her day job and joined her close friend Charlene Small to plunge their energies into creating Meet My Mascot, a business founded just a year ago.

Since creating the company the pair have worked tirelessly to ensure children across the North-East have celebrations to remember.

Meet My Mascot’s team of colourful characters visit parties across the region to give youngsters a chance to sing and dance with their heroes.

The company has now been shortlisted as a finalist in a search for the UK’s best children’s entertainment company.

Its founders’ efforts helped to cement Meet My Mascot’s place in the top five of the category at the international What’s On 4 Junior Awards 2015 – a competition entered by thousands.

Following a final round of public voting, the pair will find out if they have won when they attend a glitzy ceremony in Tamworth on Friday, June 19.

Ms Brunskill said they were thrilled to have attracted so much acclaim after such a short time.

The former owner of the Baby Lady shop said she had set up the venture with her best friend to ensure British children didn’t miss out on fairytale magic.

She said: “We’ve got children ourselves and wanted to bring a little bit of magic to the UK – not everyone can afford to go to Disneyland.

“It’s great to do this with my friend – we’re both from Darlington and wanted to give something back to the community.

“We started off doing it part-time but got so busy we had to go full-time, it’s lovely to work with our imagination every weekend.”

Ms Brunskill said it was their loyal customer base that ensured their place in the competition.

She added: “It’s amazing, Darlington’s such a small place compared to the big cities who’ve entered and to think we’ve got this far is unbelievable.

“I think we stood out because we are all about the children and committed totally to making them believe in magic.

“Our characters are all played by singers and actors and they’ll meet the children, sing and dance with them and play games.

“The attention to detail makes an impact on the children on their big day and it helps them believe.”