Calver shopkeeper turns Santa to help mum fufil special Christmas wish
Edward White, of White’s Spar store on Kingsgate, turned Santa Claus for Kirsty Hague after she wrote to Spar head office to ask where she could buy a trolley identical to those in store.
Kirsty had been tasked with finding one after seven-year-old daughter Alice, who lives with autism spectrum disorder, put the item at the top of her wish list.
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Hide AdKirsty said: “Alice goes to school in Stoney Middleton, so we visit the shop most days and she likes to wheel the trolley around.
“She is a little bit older than most children who would play with a toy trolley, and can be very particular about things so it was hard to find one the right size. I searched everywhere before I asked Spar.”
When Kirsty’s appeal for help reached regional manager Alan Rumsey, he contacted Edward and they quickly agreed to give away one of the trolleys, worth around £80.
Not only that, but the two men also filled it with toys and Christmas treats before they presented it to Alice last week.
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Hide AdKirsty said: “Alice was overwhelmed and over the moon, she hasn’t played with anything else since. They’ve helped me make her wish come true.
“They put so much thought into the other gifts too, with things like a sensory light, colouring books and chocolate.”
She added: “It was such a lovely gesture, I can’t thank Alan and Edward enough. It restores your faith in humankind.”
Alan said: “We’ve never had anything like this before, but we are a family-run company and we like to do as much as we can for our communities.”
Edward added: “I’m glad we could do our bit to make someone’s Christmas.”