A POOLE woman has recruited an army of elves to help shoppers wrap their presents for Christmas to raise money for charity.

Chris Crompton, 59, from Hamworthy, will be outside The Body Shop in the Dolphin shopping centre on several dates throughout December, to raise money for the charity, Beating Bowel Cancer.

The volunteers will be at the centre on December 14, 21, and 23, from 8am to 7pm, and from 8am to 5.30pm on Christmas Eve, December 24.

Chris said: “This is the fourth year that we have done present wrapping and all we ask is that people give a donation to Beating Bowel Cancer.

“Boots of Poole and also Bournemouth have been very, very generous and have given us 300 rolls of wrapping paper to use.

“Wilkinsons also gave us a voucher so that we could buy what supplies we needed, and This Is It, which is further down Poole High Street, provided us with lots of bows and ribbons. We do get through a lot of paper.”

Chris chose the charity after her husband, Edward, died aged 55 in 2008 after being diagnosed with bowel cancer in October 2007.

She says that now she wants to help prevent others from going through the same upset of losing a loved one, and adds that early diagnosis is the key.

“My son, Lee, has done the Three Peaks Challenge for the charity and raised £6,000 from it, and I reckon that over the past few years, I have probably fundraised about the same.

“I feel quite passionately about raising money and awareness of the charity, so we will also have leaflets on our table for people to take away.”

For more information and to donate to the cause, go to justgiving.com/ edward-crompton