Youngster thanks emergency workers and businesses with homemade Christmas cards

Eight-year-old Katelyn Bell, who goes to Acre Rigg Academy, in Peterlee, has been making Christmas cards for workers and businesses across the town to show her appreciation for their hard work.

Katelyn first started making cards during lockdown and has since sent around 800 cards across the region, with some even making it to Canada, Spain and Australia.

Katelyn’s mum, Heather Fairley, said: “It was all her idea.”

Heather, who is a health care assistant, said: “We have made a few friends she has never met before, all through her making cards and people seeing them on social media.”

Katelyn has also made cards for residents at Ashwood Park Residential and Nursing Home, where Heather works, where residents “think she’s just amazing.”

Heather said: “She’s just one of those people you would like to meet. She’d strike up a conversation with anyone.”