A mother-of-seven was left 'gobsmacked' after a woman asked her daughter if she believed in Santa. The little girl was in Tesco with her parents and two of her siblings when the stranger came up to her and asked her the unusual question.
Mum Beth, 49, was at the checkout preparing to pay as the children packed away the shopping when the woman spoke to her daughter, the Liverpool Echo reports. But while the question was unusual what happened next was even more so.
For the woman announced she was going to pay for the family's shopping. Despite Beth protesting the stranger went on to cover the cost of the bill.
Stunned Beth told the paper: "She said 'Do you believe in Father Christmas, or Santa? My daughter would probably say yes to anything because she probably didn't understand, 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 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."
Beth, who has adopted five of her seven children with hustband Paul, said: "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 as well, 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."
