THE FAMILY of an eight-year-old girl who spent months in hospital after suffering an ‘extremely rare’ brain haemorrhage are helping others in a similar situation.

Charlotte Neve, from Trawden, suffered ‘substantial brain damage’ after the haemorrhage in April last year, but she amazed doctors by learning to walk and talk again while being cared for at Leeds General Infirmary.

Now Charlotte’s mum, Leila, and her fundraising group Lottie’s Army, have started the Lottie Box appeal, which is aimed at helping families of other children who are in hospital over Christmas.

She said: “I know how hard it is when you are spending so much time at hospital.

“But, as well as being at hospital, you have other children being passed around family members. You need to be helping them get through school, there is just so much to do. At Christmas it is even harder for a family. That’s why we have started the Lottie Box. There are shoe boxes donated with things in for children and their families, like small toys, crayons, maybe bath and shower gel for the parents, anything that people think would be appreciated at this time.”

The Lottie Box appeal has only been up and running for a few days but has already attracted national interest, with people across the country putting together boxes.

Leila said: “The response has been amazing. We’ve had a lot of support and lots of people are planning on donating boxes.

“We have quite a few drop-off points already and we will be adding more and more.

“We’ve set a deadline of December 15 for the boxes to be in, and we will be taking them to hospitals and to the Children’s Trust so that they reach the right people in time for Christmas.”

For more information on the appeal and to find drop off points, visit www.lottiebox.co.uk