A mum whose daughter was asked by a kind stranger in Tesco if she believed in Santa says the incident left her “gobsmacked”.
Beth, 49, was doing her weekly shop alongside husband Paul and three of her children when she noticed a woman approach her daughter.
Beth was paying for her groceries at the checkout as her kids packed the items into carrier bags when the stranger came over and spoke to her daughter, asking her the unusual question.
After asking whether her daughter “believed in Father Christmas, or Santa,” Beth says the stranger showed her family “a really lovely side of humanity”.
Beth told the Liverpool ECHO : "The kids were helping me put things into bags and a lady came over and spoke to one of my children.
"She said 'Do you believe in Father Christmas, or Santa?'
"My daughter would probably say yes to anything because she probably didn't understand, and said she did. She then said, 'well, I'm going to pay for your shopping'.
"I was a little bit gobsmacked and said 'no, no don't worry', and said all the British things you would say and she said, 'no, no, no, no, I want to pay for your shopping'."
Beth, who has seven children, five of whom are adopted, added: "She insisted on paying, she wouldn't tell us why. She wouldn't tell us what her name was.
"She said she was a banker and she'd had a good year and that she wanted to bless some people.
"She said she'd done it a few times and off she went, and that was it. I gave her a hug and that was it.
"My husband's been on strike recently and not been paid for strike days at the moment. Things have been a lot tighter at the moment, but she wouldn't have known that.
"We were just incredibly appreciative of it, it was very timely. It was £140 as well - it wasn't a little shop, she knew that already though.
"When I run it back in my head I think I should've done this and that, but because I had my kids and my husband, I didn't really have time to process it really.
"If I could speak to her again I'd just tell her how incredibly grateful I am. It was just incredibly kind and thoughtful, especially in this world where people just take and take for themselves and are so inward looking.
"I'd want to tell her how much it's really blessed us as a family, not just in possessions but it's given us a real sense of joy and such a lovely feeling over the weekend.
"I saw a really lovely side of humanity, when everything is so negative out there at the moment."
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