A special late Christmas present has been given to Huntingdonshire children's hospital charity Dreamdrops.

The money was the proceeds of a traditional festive party which had to be cancelled due to the coronavirus lockdown.

Huntingdon's Accio Consult and Construct decided to donate £2,000 to Dreamdrops in lieu of its annual staff Christmas dinner.

Iain Parnell, finance manager, presented Dreamdrops chairman Anne-Marie Hamilton, chairman of Dreamdrops, with the money and said: "We at Accio had to forego our Christmas party this year, the time we reflect on all the hard work our team has undertaken.

"As it was not possible this year, our directors gave the challenge to our team to propose where we could donate funds normally set aside for Christmas."

Iain said: "The criteria was simple, to select two charities where we could inject funds that would make a key difference at the point of donation. It had to be local and it had to be of importance to the team’s values.

"One of the excellent causes that caught our eye was Dreamdrops and we were delighted to be able to offer our support to this excellent and worthwhile cause.”

Dreamdrops provides the extras not covered by the NHS for young people who are being treated in hospital and at home.

Anne-Marie said: “We’re thrilled to receive such a generous donation from Accio Consult and Construct.

“It was sad that circumstances meant they were unable to hold their annual dinner this year, but we would like to thank them very much indeed for supporting local sick children instead.

“It is such a kind and thoughtful thing to do, and we are really grateful to them.”

Information about raising funds for Dreamdrops is available at: www.dreamdropschildrenscharity.org or you can email: dreamdrops.dreamdrops@nhs.net.