Burnley girl nominated for Pride of Britain award for her unique keyworker craft project

Annie Bond was put forward for the special award by a friend of the family who was blown away with the unique keyworker character creations Annie has been making with her mum, Victoria, during lockdown.

News of the nomination has left the Bond family filled with pride.

Victoria said: "We are so thrilled and proud of Annie that she has been nominated for this award.

"This was not something we ever expected to happen."

The prestigious awards, which are presented by celebrity Carol Vorderman and shown on TV, celebrate the achievements of people in different walks of life, including children.

The enterprising duo came up with the keyworker character project in April as part of the growing craft collection that was keeping Annie occupied while she could not attend classes at her school, Cliviger C of E Primary.

Annie had been doing lots of different craft projects and selling them outside their home in Burnley as part of a 'doorstep shop' to raise money for Alder Hey children's hospital.

Victoria spotted the little wooden characters in Tesco and bought a couple of packs not really knowing what they could do with them. They started doodling with the characters and then hit upon the idea of turning them into bookmarks with each one a different keyworker.

Victoria said: "We thought about what people would be doing at home during lockdown and we knew many would be reading so bookmarks seemed ideal."

Creative Annie got to work with her coloured pencils to bring the keyworkers to life and each one has an inspirational quote on it with a little gift label signed by Annie.

Victoria then posted pictures of their creations on a facebook group they had joined called the Great British Camp Out for the NHS and they were bombarded with messages, inquiries and orders from across the country.

Victoria, who is a dental hygenist, said: "I can't believe how this has grown from something that started out as a bit of doodling."

The project has since grown to include mugs, cotton bags and coin purses and beautiful little ceramic hanging decorations that orders are flooding in for. Victoria draws out the figures and Annie gets to work with her coloured pencils, creating the individual characters which are then printed onto the products.

The duo have now raised over £1,000 and they have been invited to become registered charity fund raisers for Chester Zoo, Help for Heroes and Tommy's baby loss charity.

Victoria, who is married to husband Rob and also has a son Oliver, two, was overwhelmed when she received a request for one of the bookmarks from Dr Larisa Corda who makes regular appearances on ITV's This Morning.

And a collection of 30 bookmarks were sent to Yorkshire where they will be used as puppets for children living in deprived communities.

Several weeks into the project Victoria had to make a desperate appeal for a printing company to get on board with the project to help keep it afloat. And they were inundated with offers of help which has ensured they can fulfill all their orders and take on more.