A SPRINGFIELD couple went the extra mile to spread Christmas cheer to sick children at Broomfield Hospital by collecting and handing out more than 100 presents.
Grace Morrad, 25 with the help of her boyfriend Gareth Carey, also 25, handed out around 120 presents to youngsters in the hospital's children's burns ward and Phoenix ward, which caters for children who are required to stay overnight on Christmas Day.
And the joy on the faces of the children upon opening their presents was plain to see on Monday.
"One of the parents came out to say thank you after he had just unwrapped a rattle for his recently born daughter that she was going to play with right away," said Grace, of Saddle Rise.
"It hit me a bit, Gareth said he thought I looked like I was going to cry – it hits inside and puts a massive smile on my face, it really touched my heart."
Grace who works as a nanny in Wickford, said her inspiration for collecting the presents was times that she has worked with families who have had children in hospital.
"I have always loved children, from doing babysitting when I was younger to always playing with children at weddings," she said. "I love to do things for charity, in my old job we raised money for the women's cancer charity and I like to have a charity every year. I contacted people in our road and friends and family to get them to donate presents. It was all about putting letters through people's doors and speaking to people you knew and then they would spread the word to people at work.
"We were panicking at first because we didn't think we would get enough, so it's been really nice and surprising to see how generous people are and we would like to say a big thank you to everyone who donated presents.
"When someone knocks on your door and says 'I've got some presents for you' it touches your heart. It's definitely something I would do again. We've been working pretty hard to get all the presents wrapped in time; I feel a bit empty now it's all over."
One of the children given a present was 14-year-old Amelia Willett, from Felsted, who suffers from Ehler-Danlos syndrome, a condition that effects connective tissue, leading to fragile skin and unstable joints.
Her mum Tracey Emery said: "It just gives them a little pep up when people are generous and gives them a thrust when they're in hospital, especially so close to Christmas."
Phoenix ward nursery nurse, Nickie Lund, was equally appreciative. "You can just see their faces light up, it makes their day and it makes ours too, to see them happy," she said. "No one wants to be in hospital at Christmas so it just brightens up their day."
And Grace's boyfriend Gareth said he was very proud of what his girlfriend had achieved. "She has done really well, I helped a little but not a lot – she did all the wrapping," he said. "At the start we didn't think we would get enough presents so when so many people came forward it was pretty overwhelming."
