Around £20,000 worth of Christmas gifts and useful items were donated to hospital staff and patients during a Winter campaign.

The annual Raise a Smile campaign, which funds gifts to uplift staff and patients at West Hertfordshire hospitals, was more important than ever during the bleak 2020 Christmas period.

While staff were hard at work with a surge of patients, local businesses and the community came together to donate money and handful items to lighten up Christmas.

Raise’s campaign launched with a Christmas video staring Watford FC’s Troy Deeney, Tom Cleverly and Will Hughes, alongside the Mayor of Watford and MP Dean Russell.

Anytime Fitness donated gym passes, while BP donated Lego toys for children, The Grove Hotel provided mince pies and gingerbread men.

Longdean School also raised a £674 from their Christmas jumper day to go towards various gifts and hampers.

Nearly 70 Christmas hampers were distributed to staff and patients across Watford, Hemel Hempstead and St Albans.

Sofia Sheikh, Raise’s Charity Director, said: “We were overwhelmed by the generosity and kindness of the public, the local community, our staff and patients who supported this campaign and made it our best campaign so far.

“We’d like to thank everyone who donated to the campaign – you really have helped to raise smiles over the Christmas period during what was and still is an unprecedented and uncertain time.”