'Whose turn is it to be knitted today?'

Joyce Bellamy is knitting all 78 gifts from the 12 Days of Christmas

A 95-year-old woman is knitting all 78 gifts from the 12 Days of Christmas song to raise money for Cancer Research UK.

Joyce Bellamy from Pontefract has knitted 40 of the 78 dolls since she began in July, and said the challenge had given her "a reason to get up" each morning.

Mrs Bellamy said she had always enjoyed knitting and it was good for her mental health.

She told the BBC: “I’m 95 so it would be easy to curl up in a corner with a shawl but I’m not like that. I wake up and think, whose turn is it to be knitted today?”

Joyce Bellamy hopes to have all the characters finished by Christmas

Mrs Bellamy said she was inspired to raise money for Cancer Research UK after four members of her family were diagnosed the disease – three of whom have since died.

She is seeking sponsorship for her project to knit all the characters - from maids a-milking to lords a-leaping - and hopes to have them all finished by the festive season.

Mrs Bellamy said her aim had been to raise £300 but she had “well exceeded that”, adding she was expecting more as “a lot of people have teased me that they won’t give until I’ve done all the dolls”.

Mrs Bellamy was born in Barnsley and has lived in Pontefract since the 1950s.

Before her retirement, she founded the independent Inglebrook School, which her granddaughter now runs as Little Rainbow Nursery.

Lisa Millett, Cancer Research UK spokesperson for Yorkshire, said: “We’re so grateful to Joyce for this incredible fundraising effort.

"We have such wonderful supporters, of all ages, doing many unique and wonderful things to raise money for life-saving research.”

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