A Watford mum has thanked the 62 people who donated shoe boxes of gifts to give homelessness charity New Hope.

April Tredgold, 28, of Shaftesbury Road, posted the drive on a local mum's social media network and said she got a "fantastic response".

The gifts were given to people who are homeless or vulnerably housed in Watford and the local area.

Of the gift boxes, 33 went to people staying in New Hope’s emergency accommodation, the Sanctuary Night Shelter, and 26 went to the Haven Support Centre to be distributed to people who come to the Haven for a hot meal, washing facilities, advice and support.

April, mum-of-two daughters, said: "The boxes contained toothbrushes, tooth paste, hat and chocolate treats.

"Next year I would like to do the same thing for a children’s charity, but this is close to home.

"Thank you to everyone who donated, especially the people who don’t even know me and came round to my house with the shoe boxes."

Rebecca Palmer, fundraising and communications manager at New Hope, said: "Christmas is a really hard time for most of the people we work with, so for someone to go to so much effort to make sure they have a present on Christmas Day means a great deal to them. We’re really grateful to April and all the people who donated a shoe box gift."