A KIND-HEARTED young girl supported terminally-ill children and their families by asking for donations to be made to charity instead of buying birthday presents for her.

Kirsty Damerial from Stratton St Margaret made a special request to her friends when she invited them to her 13th birthday party.

Instead of bringing gifts to her laser disco, they gave money to Jessie May Hospice at Home, which supports families all over Swindon and Wiltshire.

Kirsty’s generous friends raised £173 for the charity, and now her grandad Peter Simpson is matching that donation.

Kirsty said: “I heard about the charity through Grandad's business, then I looked into it and thought it was great that it helped ill children when they needed it most.

"It could be helping someone just down the road, it's really special, and I'd wanted to support a charity for a while so this seemed perfect."

Her mum Katrina said: “I think it's an amazing thing to do and I'm so proud of her. The whole family think it's a really lovely and thoughtful gesture and her friends are fabulous."

Debbie Clark, from Jessie May’s fundraising team for Swindon and Wiltshire, said: “This money will be enough to pay for four hours of respite care for one family, which is brilliant.

"It's wonderful for someone so young to have such compassion and empathy, I'm honoured that she selected this charity, she did her research and understood why what we do is so important."

Peter Simpson, owner of Duncan’s Self Drive Hire, said: “I've supported Jessie May for more than a year because we're a Wiltshire company and it's great that it's helping people around the county."