Real-life Santa spent £3,000 on toys for less fortunate kids

Kindhearted Reese Fletcher, 29, is seen surrounded by nine trollies full of gifts for children he was moved to help.

Reese, from Kippax, says he decided to act after watching a video from addiction charity Forward Leeds.

The single dad decided to help children not as fortunate as his two daughters Lola, 9, and Isla, 7.

He raised £3,400 by selling 260 wooden Christmas trees to buy nine trolleys of children’s toys for charity.

Reese, who runs a fencing and decking business, turned piles of leftover wood into flat Christmas trees and sold 260 at £10 each in ten days.

He posted on Facebook about his fundraising plan on November 20 he smashed his target of 100 to sell £150 in 48 hours.

After selling a total of 260 he went to Smyth’s in Leeds with £3400 to spend on toys.

He said: “It was like a spur of the moment thing.

“I watched this video a mate of mine put up to do with this charity that was helping get kids presents.

“I thought I would donate £50. Then that night I saw all this wood lying in my garden left over from my business.

“I came up with the idea to make Christmas trees out of it and sell them for £10 each.

“They were just little wooden trees and I aimed to sell 100 of them to begin with, but they went almost as soon as I put a post up on my business Facebook page.

“I went up to 150 and they went as well. I ended up selling 260 of them.

“I could make eight at a time by cutting them out of a template which took us 15 minutes.

“It was me, two lads who work for me and a couple of mates helped out. It was flat out in the evenings for 10 days after I posted on my page.

“We were selling them for £10 each and some people paid more like £20. The orders kept coming in and it went crazy. It was absolutely mental.

“I tried to only share the post in the local area, but I ended up delivering some in my van ten miles away. Most were within a five mile radius of my home.

“In the video my pal had gone into depth about what he had been through. It really moved me.

“And around Christmas I wanted to do something good for the kids that could go without gifts.

“The idea was to sell the trees to buy toys to fill the donation box up. We had £3,400 we’d raised in around a week or ten days.

“We went to Smyths in Leeds and went on a mad shopping trip.

“I have got two girls and like me they have never gone without.

“I was blown away. I’m so grateful to everyone who bought the trees.

“I didn’t think I would raise more than £50 let alone £3000. I used up all the leftover wood and my materials supplier helped me out.

“We tried to cover each age range for girls and boys. We bought scooters, bikes, remote control cars, drones, dolls and filled nine trolleys.

“The shop gave us a 10% discount so we went back in and spent that discount on more.

“We were in there for three hours. It was harder work than you might think.

“Then we put all the gifts in the box outside Malcom’s Butchers in Leeds Market. I haven’t spoken to the charity much because they’ve flat out this time of year.

“I have a lot of good feedback from people. I’m still blown away. It’s mental.

“I have been a bit of a sh*t in the past and have got back on track in the last ten years. It’s great to give something good back.

“Christmas needs to be a happy time. It’ll make Christmas a bit better for these kids in what’s been a sh*t year for everyone.”

Malcolm Leary, of Malcolm Michaels Butchers in Kirkgate Market, is asking people to leave toys outside his shop that will be given to children from families being supported by the city's drug and alcohol service.

Malcolm said: “It’s been a tough year for lots of people and I wanted to do something to help those who are trying to help themselves.

“Alcohol and drug problems can affect anyone. This year in particular we all know people who’ve been struggling mentally and who might be drinking more to cope.

“As a parent I know that Christmas can be tough financially. We just want to help those parents who are trying hard get themselves to a better place with a little extra something for their kids this Christmas.”