A kind stranger agreed to pay for a family’s Christmas food shopping at Tesco after asking the young daughter if she believed in Santa.
Christmas is famously a time for giving, but this Christmas promises to be incredibly difficult for a lot of people up and down the country.
That’s why the occasional piece of goodwill and generosity is genuinely newsworthy, regardless of when and where it takes place.
On this occasion, the random act of kindness took place in Tesco when 49-year-old Beth, her husband Paul, and their young daughter were out sorting out the weekly food shop.
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Whilst Beth was packing the bags and getting everything through the checkout, she spotted a woman who had approached her daughter.
Then, something remarkable happened.
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. 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 and her husband have seven kids, of which five are adopted.
That means Christmas is likely a massively expensive time for them, particularly this time around, given the rising price of just about everything.
Well, things were about to get a lot easier.
She continued: "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 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."
Beth concluded: "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."
See? There is still some good in the world after all. We all need to remember that at this time of year.
Topics: Christmas, Food and Drink, Life, Money, Tesco
Tom Wood