A Lochaber woman has been overwhelmed by the generosity of others after she launched an appeal for toys for children who may not otherwise get anything for Christmas.
And she was delighted when her 12-year-old daughter asked if she could give up some of her presents to go to children from families who are worse off than her own.
Sandie Meechie, of Ballachulish, said: “We hear about all the people having to use food banks and I thought about all the parents who can’t afford to buy food, never mind presents for their children.”
The 48-year-old explained that she heard about a project, called “Love in a Box” in other parts of Scotland and contacted the organisers to see if there was anything similar in Lochaber.
When she discovered there was no such project in the area she decided to do something about it and issued an online appeal to a local group on a social networking website.
Her daughters, Louise, 12, and Mary-Anne, 21, and her friend, Liz Campbell, of Fort William, offered their help and in just three weeks they have collected more than 75 presents for local children.
Mrs Michie said: “The girls have been helping and Louise has given up some of her presents.
“They were already wrapped for her ready for Christmas and she said she wanted to give some of them away.
“We don’t have much ourselves, but at least I can still buy for my children, but there are other people who must dread this time of year because they can’t buy presents for their children.”
She added that the response to the appeal had been “unbelievable”.
Mrs Michie said: “It’s amazing how generous people have been.
“They have given us all sorts of really good toys, including Barbie dolls, a dolls pram with a doll in it and a train set.
“I got in touch with the social work department and they said they would deliver them for us as they know who needs them.”
She added that, as far as she was aware, this was the first time this has been done in Lochaber.
And she said: “We are planning to do it again next year, but we will start earlier and advertise it better so we can do more.”