Thoughtful Portadown girl Maisie (11) raised thousands to buy gifts for sick children in Craigavon Hospital at Christmas

Maisie McBride, a P7 pupil at Richmount Primary School at Scotch St, Portadown, is always keen to help and give to others.

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Already she has raised thousands of pounds for various charities and donated her hair twice to the Little Princess Trust for hair pieces for children receiving treatment and losing their hair.

An only child, Maisie’s mum Susan says she has always been ‘a very kind, thoughtful personality and always thinking of others in everything that she does’.

Just last year Maisie raised a total of £1,130 through organising a raffle with prizes donated by local businesses, bucket collection and hosting a family quiz night.

In June 2019 she donated 12 inches of her hair and a cash donation of £215 to the Little Princesses Trust.

Indeed throughout her short life she has contributed to many fundraising events through school, clubs and associations within the community.

On Christmas Day 2021 Maisie decided that she wanted to fundraise independently in 2022 for organisations that support children who are experiencing ill health including to donate more of her hair to the Little Princess Trust and to raise money to provide every child in Blossom Children's Ward in Craigavon Area Hospital with a gift on Christmas Day 2022.

Her mum said: “Maisie has never been admitted to the children's ward in her life and has never seen the children's ward environment.”

On May 1, 2022 Maisie had her hair cut again (10.5 Inches) and made a cash donation of £85 to Little Princesses Trust.

Last November she decided to raise funds for the Children's Ward and ran a family quiz and raffle to raise the case to buy gifts and toys.

She wrote a letter to local businesses and distributed these around shops in Portadown and surrounding area explaining who she was and what she was intending to do.

Susan said: “The response was amazing with a number of local businesses making contact to donate a gift to the raffle.”

Maisie, with a family friend, designed and printed posters advertising the quiz, distributing them in the neighbourhood and raffle tickets sales began.

In November Maisie held a family quiz with a light supper in a community hall which was well supported. Maisie described this as ‘a dream coming true’.

P&G Family Foods invited Maisie to complete a bucket collection in December and, in total, from all these events Maisie raised £1,130.

Maisie kept in contact with the activity therapist at Blossom Ward to would be best to buy for the children.

She bought 10 baby cot mobiles, Duplo Lego, stickle bricks, Peppa Pig toys, Switch multi-player gaming station, multiple switch games and games for the X-Box gaming station.

Plus she made 14 overnight stay bags with toiletries for parents and children admitted to hospital. Her final shop was to buy 20 Christmas presents for children staying on the ward over Christmas.

On 23rd December Maisie visited Craigavon and donated the gifts and had the opportunity to see the Children's Ward for the first time.

Her mum said: “Maisie's dad and I are super proud of her and the time and effort she put into thinking of others.”