Abel Skip Hire LTD in Northampton donates £500 worth of gifts to Northampton General Hospital children's ward

A skip hire company in Northampton has donated £500 worth of gifts to Northampton General Hospital (NGH) children's ward as a thank you for the service's work.

The gifts from Abel Skip Hire LTD, based in Grafton Street Industrial Estate, include a wide range of options for children up to the age of 14 or 15 that NGH cares for.

These include baby toys, which are usually forgotten about in donations, according to advice the company received from NGH, as well as mini board games like Connect Four and Guess Who.

The company has also included sensory toys designed for children with additional needs.

Sam Alice, whose partner owns the company and helps with their social media and giveaways, said that her own experience made the gifts all the more special.

She said: "Obviously, there's nothing worse than having a child in hospital on Christmas day. We just thought it would be a nice gesture to give them a nice present or two presents to open up on the day.

"My own daughter was in the hospital a few years back and she got a candy cane and a book and her face just lit up. It was like Santa had come all the way to hospital just for them.

"It's been a hard year for a lot of people and kids have been hit a little bit harder, with their loss of a lot of school and time with friends.

"So this was just something nice to give away to the community and something nice for all the people there."

The gesture has found wide support within the company, which has done lots of giveaways in the past for customers and people engaging with their social media.

However this is the first giveaway the company has done for the NHS, something that many of the team members felt they should give back to this year.

Michelle Pepper, managing director of Abel Skip Hire LTD, added: "We wanted to give something back to the NHS.

"We the business owners have three children.

"One of them was born four weeks early, the next was born six weeks early and the next was born five weeks early, so we know first hand how much the NHS does for us.

"Hopefully this will bring a little bit of joy to those kids on the ward.

"Kids don't want to be on a ward for Christmas, they want to be at home with family.

"We just wanted to bring a little smile for the child that is poorly on Christmas."

The gifts will be given out on the festive day and hopefully bring a bit of Christmas cheer.