TEENAGER Courtney Hughes is looking forward to receiving thousands of Christmas presents to give away.

But this year the charity boxes won't be piled up in the front room, blocking her family's view of the TV.

Thanks to the donation of a shipping container the 19-year-old, who runs a Christmas charity, now has her own bespoke Santa's grotto and is able to sort out donations in an orderly fashion.

Miss Hughes, who lives in Didcot with mum Claire, dad Lee and sister Megan, 12, said: "It was chaotic last year when the presents were stacked all over my house - we could hardly move.

"It's so much better now we have the shipping container and my mum and dad are helping me with the deliveries.

"Presents have been sent in from all over the place - Scotland, Wales, Manchester, and the United States.

"The parcels come through the post and then we take them down to the container and sort them into different categories - books, games, toys, and smellies."

The nursing assistant, who works at Didcot Community Hospital, launched her Christmas charity collection when she was just 13, inspired to help after her great-grandmother Elise Richardson was stuck in hospital over Christmas.

She took her gran a few presents and saw what a difference the gesture made, then realised thousands of other people's Christmases could also be brightened by a simple gift.

The following year she ran her first secret Santa collection for Helen and Douglas House children's hospice and Oxford Children’s Hospital, collecting donations through K&K newsagents in Didcot.

The teenager's selflessness inspired hundreds of people and her appeal has been growing every year since.

Miss Hughes, who previously worked at the John Radcliffe Hospital and Sobell House Hospice in Oxford, is now getting calls for help all year round.

Earlier this year she made pre-Christmas present donations to O'Hanlon House homeless shelter in Oxford and Ronald McDonald House at the John Radcliffe Hospital.

The nursing assistant said people in Didcot have been extremely generous in donating gifts to her charity, which is called Charity Secret Santa.

On Thursday she was at the street fair in Broadway to collect more gifts from members of the public.

Miss Hughes added: "We were inundated with presents last year and I expect it will be the same again this year - people are incredibly generous.

"I expect it will be thousands of presents this year like it was last year but this time we are in a much better position to store them and sort them out.

"We give presents to all the local hospitals - it's not just for children, it's for people of all ages."

Visit facebook.com/charitysecretsanta