An 11-year-old girl from Ashington has been creating colourful bracelets to raise money for the RVI's charity Tiny Lives, after she decided to start fundraising to mark her birthday back in April.
Rubyrae Lisle was able to see the work done at the RVI first hand when her mum had her baby brother in the hospital last Christmas, and she wanted to help support this.
Ruby, who is a year six student at St Aidan's Catholic Primary School in Ashington, has spoken about what inspired her to do this and the reasons behind trying to help people in this way.
“We had been talking about the charity because I knew it was connected to the maternity unit at the RVI. I decided I didn’t need much for my birthday this year, and thought I could help someone else instead", she said.
Ruby's bracelets are made of clay beads that she strings individually, and she is able to personalise them with letters and names, having sold over 200 of them, and raising £600 altogether.
Ruby's mum, Abby Lisle, has been advertising the bracelets to friends and family on Facebook, with her post being shared over 100 times and sales of the bracelets taking off completely. She has spoken about her daughters charity work and how proud she is of her.
“Ruby has made over 200 bracelets, and has spent hours not only making them but posting them through letter boxes and visiting the Post Office to send all over the country.
“She has posted her home-made bracelets across Northumberland and right down to Luton, Leeds, Shropshire and various other locations. As parents we are so proud of Ruby, anybody who knows her can vouch for how selfless and kind she is. She is a little girl with a big heart, and talks of being a doctor or nurse herself when she grows up, to care for others.”
The Tiny Lives Trust has raised more than £350,000 and supported more than 750 babies needing neonatal care after arriving prematurely or unwell.
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