A CHARITY fronted by television personality Scarlett Moffatt brought gifts and festive cheer to children in hospital across the region.

Scarlett, who became a household name after appearing on Channel 4’s Gogglebox and went on to win I’m a Celebrity in 2016, is the ambassador for The Angel Trust.

She was joined by her mother and fellow trustee Betty Moffatt and charity chief executive Clair McGregor on a visit to children’s wards at Darlington’s Memorial Hospital and the University of North Durham, in Durham, on Sunday.

Scarlett said: “We just wanted to break up their stay in hospital. It’s not nice to be in hospital this time of the year, specially for little babies and children.

 

“It has been been nice to chat to everybody and bring them little presents . . . and a little bit of Christmas joy. We would have been able to do this without the support of the community.

“We can’t believe the response that we have had.”

The Angel Trust ran a Halloween shop in the former McIntyre’s shoe shop, in Bishop Auckland, to raise funds towards its work.

When it turned into a Christmas shop one of the first things the charity did was to launch a toy and gift appeal, and the community responded with enthusiasm and generosity.

Hundreds of gifts were handed over and the charity used them to bring some joy and relief to deserving families and individuals. The charity uses the support of the community to help people who have made an impact on others or who face tough times.

Among the donors were staff from Lloyds bank, the Durham pool of branches at Durham, Spennymoor and Bishop Auckland, who collected more than 40 gifts for the appeal.

 

Lisa Fets, manager at Spennymoor, said: “We knew the appeal was something we should support, it is a local charity supporting local people.

“All the staff were amazing, I’m so proud of what they’ve done. You don’t always take time to think about how fortunate you are. We felt it was important to think about others having a harder time.

“The night before we handed over the presents my girls looked at the collection and said there wasn’t enough colour and soft toys so they went out and picked some dolls and unicorns. We hope the appeal shows people there are others who care.”