Thousands donate children's presents in Christmas appeal

Tom Bravin dressed as secret Santa

The Christmas spirit is alive in Wales with thousands of people donating toys and teddies to underprivileged and sick children.

The annual Mr X appeal, which sees schools, workplaces and individuals buy toys for youngsters across south west Wales, has resulted in a bumper haul of more than 9,000 presents.

The original Mr X died in March but his cause has been continued.

In the north a new campaign for teddies for sick children has been "inundated".

When Mr X - Swansea businessman Tom Bravin - died, friends and family vowed to carry on his work in his name.

Those who have taken on the appeal, which is in its 57th year, say they too want to keep their identity secret.

Tom Bravin died in March

A spokesman for Mr X said: "The beauty of the appeal is the anonymity of it all.

"It's not about how much you spend, but the thought that goes into it - and ultimately ensuring that no child wakes up on Christmas Day without a gift.

"By the end of the appeal, we will have 9,000 presents come through.

"It shows that the true spirit of Christmas and thinking of those less fortunate than yourself is still alive and well.

"The original Mr X would have been thrilled that his legacy lives on."

Among the charities the Mr X appeal works with is the NSPCC.

The charity's team manager in Swansea, Amanda Deloncapdesuner, said: "Particularly in this financial climate, where parents are struggling, it really helps the families we are working with."

Elen Pierce said she had received about 400 teddies since beginning her campaign last month

Elen Pierce, 34, from Llandudno Junction, began her appeal for teddies to give to sick children and those affected by trauma just under a month ago.

Ms Pierce said she had the idea while clearing out her three-year-old daughter Katie's bedroom and came across "so many soft toys".

She has now received about 400 teddies since starting her Facebook page - Give a Child a Teddy Campaign, including "three loads of bears from Australia".

"I expected this to be a fairly small project and was going to focus on distributing to children mainly from my area, but I've been inundated with teddy donations and there are now teddy drop-off points right across north Wales and Welshpool and a couple in England," she said.

"I would love to distribute them further afield."

Ms Pierce said the only difficulty she had come across was picking up the teddies from the drop-off points further afield, such as Essex, and appealed for help transporting them.

"I wouldn't like to refuse any, as people have gone out of their way to collect them," she said.