STAFF and students at Richmond School have donated more than 60 presents to sick children at a Newcastle hospital.

Emily Earnshaw, who works in the student restaurant at Richmond School and Sixth Form College, was inspired to give something back to the Royal Victoria Infirmary following the care her granddaughter Maisie-Mae received in the first 11 weeks of her life.

Maisie-Mae was born with TOF, Tracheo-Oesphageal Fistula, a rare congenital condition of the food pipe, which meant her oesophagus was attached to her trachea making it impossible for her to eat.

Within minutes of being born at the James Cook Hospital, eight weeks premature and weighing just 3lb 4oz, she was in an ambulance on her way to the RVI where she underwent a successful ten-hour life-saving operation.

Maisie-Mae’s parents, Sam Atkins and Honey-Anne Earnshaw, both former students of the school, spent the first 11 weeks of Maisie-Mae’s life with her at the RVI, in facilities provided by The Sick Children’s Trust.

Year 9 student Marcus Weston, who has CFC Syndrome and spent most of the first year of his life at the RVI, also raised cash for a hamper and £146 for the hospital.