A YOUNGSTER has donated games consoles and tablets to a women's refuge after being overwhelmed by offers to replace the ones he lost during a burglary.

Alfie Webster's beloved iPad and Nintendo 3DS were stolen by an intruder who broke into the Darlington home he shares with his mother, Tanya, in the middle of the night.

Friends and also strangers donated replacements following a social media appeal, leaving Alfie with more items than he needed.

So the six-year-old asked his mother if the spare games consoles could be given to other young victims of crime.

With the help of PCSO Natasha Bree, of Durham Constabulary, they made contact with Darlington’s women’s refuge and on Wednesday, Alfie and Tanya met Val Dubdale, chairwoman of the refuge and CEO Susan Degnan to hand over the items.

In turn, they presented the youngster with a thank you letter and invited him on a visit to the refuge, which provides a home to about 100 children, together with their mothers, each year.

The items donated to the refuge include three Nintendo DS consoles, a Samsung Galaxy tablet, iPhone 5, Playstation One, Xbox 360 and a number of games.

“I wanted to donate the stuff that people donated to me to people that have gone through the same thing that I went through,” said Alfie.

The Mount Pleasant Primary School pupil and Tanya are continuing their appeal for gadgets and also toys, and when asked what he wants for Christmas, Alfie said more Nintendo 3DS’s so he can donate them.

Mrs Dubdale said: “We need more kids like him. I think it is wonderful and very inspiring, especially for such a young boy coming up with a wonderful idea for young people who have nothing.”

She said that most of the children who turn up at the refuge have nothing so the gadgets will make a huge difference.

PCSO Bree added: “I think we can all take something from Alfie’s appeal. He has turned such a negative experience into something so positive.”

The burglary happened overnight between Thursday, September 6 and Friday, September 7.

Tanya and Alfie are still collecting gadgets for the women’s refuge, and they would also welcome any toys.

Anyone who would like to donate an item should visit Alfie’s Big Idea on Facebook.

The women’s refuge in Darlington has been running for more than 40 years and staff would like to expand or move to new premises in the future.

A 31-year-old man has been arrested on suspicion of burglary and the investigation remains ongoing.

Anyone with any information on the incident should contact Durham Constabulary on 101, quoting incident number 57 of September 7.