A HEREFORD man will be spending his Christmas Day delivering presents to children in the county.

Dixie Furnell, of Holmer Road, Hereford will be running Dixie's Santa Surprise, where he will visit 43 households across Herefordshire dressed as Father Christmas, delivering presents and greeting children.

He will start at Weobley at 5.30am, before visiting homes in Credenhill, Kingstone, Clehonger, Hereford, Little Dewchurch, Moreton-on-Lugg and Leominster, where he will finish at 8.30pm.

Mr Furnell said He has bought many of the gifts with money from his savings, although he has also received donations from Tesco, Morrisons and Asda.

His 'Santa visits' are the latest in a long line of voluntary work which began at the start of the pandemic.

When the first lockdown was called in March 2020, Mr Furnell began running 'Dixie's Covid-19 SOS', aiming to help people in need.

He started off by collecting toilet rolls and Calpol and delivering them to households across Herefordshire.

He found that more and more people needed help, with his page getting 7,000 followers.

"It turned into a monster overnight," he said.

Mr Furnell then began to serve meals to veterans and elderly and vulnerable people from St Martin's Church in Hereford, and was allowed to turn the church hall into a food bank.

He said he and other helpers were serving 280 meals a day, as well as delivering food parcels to people across the county.

"I just want to help people and put a smile on their faces," he said.