A TEN year old boy has been collecting blankets to give to the homeless over Christmas.

Alexander Hillis, from Marcham, was in B&Q with him mum, Anna Hillis, when he overheard a Christmas song about being ‘warm at Christmas’ and he asked his mum what happens to homeless people at Christmas time.

Mrs Hillis told the Oxford Mail: “We were going to get some paint from B&Q an they were playing Christmas music, and he whispered in my ear ‘what happens to the homeless over Christmas?’

Read also: Abingdon locals revolt after traveller funeral was allowed to go ahead

“We spoke about it for a while and then he said he wanted to give blankets to the homeless.

“I wrote it down to do over the Christmas holidays, but Alexander persisted to talk about it and so we put a plea on our village Facebook page saying we are looking for blankets to give to the homeless at Christmas.

“We ended up getting 25 blankets that we donated to The Gatehouse homeless charity near St Giles."

The Gatehouse is a non-profit organisation that offers free support for adults over 25 who are homeless, vulnerably housed, on low income and/or looking for company and community.

Read also: Petition created to stop new Aldi

Alexander and his mum went and dropped off the blankets last Saturday.

Volunteers at The Gatehouse showed Alexander around and told him how they help the homeless, particularly over Christmas.

Mrs Hillis added: "He really wanted to do something positive for people after this year.

"I am a nurse and my husband is a paramedic so we have been really busy this year, but the kids have been great.

"We are both incredibly proud of Alexander."

After Alexander's heroic efforts, he was asked to give a presentation to his fellow classmates at Marcham Primary School, telling his friends what he learnt at The Gatehouse.