A FRESH coat of paint and a new carpet was a Christmas Wish come true for a mum who has always put others before herself throughout a difficult few years.

Evelyn Livingstone had the hall, stairs and landing of her Watchfield home decorated by Wall2Wall with paint donated by Brewers of Swindon, as well as a new carpet donated and fitted by Carpets4Less, as part of our Christmas Wish campaign.

The 66-year-old was nominated by her daughter, Claire, who said her mum deserved a treat after losing both of her parents and her husband in the last few years.

Claire, 37, said: “My mum is amazing and always putting others before herself, and will often go without to help others.

“Life has thrown a lot at her in recent years.

“As well as working full time and as well as having a heart of gold, she never puts herself first.”

Evelyn, who works as a cleaner, helped to look after her father after he was taken ill eight years ago. She helped to care for him until he passed away suddenly.

Her mother was unwell and she used to help look after her too until she died.

Evelyn’s husband, Patrick, died of lung cancer in May 2010 at the age of 63.

Claire said: “He was my mum’s soul mate. She helped look after him and make the last seven months of his life as good as possible.

“This year has been very hard and my mum has been through so much and has supported me lots, especially in the last few months as I have had problems myself.

“My mum usually does her own decorating but I feel she deserves this so much and I can never thank her enough for what she has done for me and everyone else.

“This year has been very hard and I couldn’t have got through it without her.

“I can’t thank everyone enough for granting a Christmas Wish for my mum.”

Work started on the hall, which was originally orange, on Friday and was completed yesterday – just in time for when Evelyn returned home from work.

Evelyn said she was shocked when she saw the transformation.

She said: “It’s amazing, things like this don’t happen very often. I couldn't have done this myself – it looks brilliant.”

The painting was carried out by Joe and Josh from Wall2Wall.

Jan Angelo, managing director of Wall2Wall, said: “We like to get involved in helping people, we do a lot of things like this."

Alan Alexander, director of Carpets4Less, was also involved in granting a Christmas Wish last year.

He said: “I really like doing things like this.

“It is a really worthwhile thing to do and it is nice to help make someone’s Christmas.”