A DEGANWY businessman has raised £16,800 for charity by giving up his own Christmas presents.

In an act of selflessness, Adrian Valentine, who owns Junction Autopark in Llandudno Junction, originally decided to hand over £250 to his local Ty Hapus centre in Llandudno.

The 43-year-old says Ty Hapus staff, including Jayne Louise, were “overwhelmed” by his gesture and had proceeded to tell him stories of local families not being able to afford toys for their children.

Mr Valentine, originally from Ormskirk, was so moved by the “harrowing” stories that he decided to increase his dontation to £2500. And, when he mentioned it on Facebook, others began to raise funds towards the cause.

“The total money raised completely blew up and reached £10,000 in just two days,” Mr Valentine said.

“I had read that someone was going to be making a donation to charity rather than sending out Christmas cards this year and I thought that was a good idea. I thought ‘ we won’t bother with our presents’.

“I was originally going to give £250 but when Jayne told me stories involving local families, I was moved to tears and decided to give more.

“She said she recently had to turn four families away as the centre was unable to support them due to lack of funding. One little boy simply wanted a toy fire engine for Christmas, but his family couldn’t afford one.

“You see these things on the news all the time, but fact is that it is happening right on our doorstep too, we are just blind to it at times.”

As well as money, Mr Valentine’s fundraiser has seen hundreds of items donated to Ty Hapus, including dolls, toy cars and a 50 inch TV. He added: “I think the appeal just touched everyone, particularly at this time of year. I’m just completely blown away by the generosity shown by our community."