Jacqueline Liddiard with Helena Gannon, Martina McEnhill, Deirdre McEnhill and Jackie Murphy with a haul of presents

A BINGO club in Holloway has raised over £700 to buy toys for children of struggling families this Christmas.

The Hercules pub, which hosts the bingo club, will donate an extra £500 ahead of the final monthly fundraiser of the year.

Jacqueline Liddiard, 67, came up with the idea after speaking with Islington families struggling to make ends meet.

She said: “I was a single parent and when it came to Christmas it was so hard to get toys. I saw someone who was struggling and then I thought ‘why not do it?’ So I spoke to the Hercules and we started fundraising from the bingo and we do raffles too. Without the Hercules there’s no way I would’ve been able to do it – they’ve got a heart of gold.”

Ms Liddiard is a self-proclaimed born and bred “Cally girl” having grown up in the Caledonian Road area and lived in Islington her whole life.

She wants to make accessing the toys as easy as possible for parents.

She added: “You don’t have to explain to me, I was in their situation once and I know how they feel. It doesn’t make you a bad mum – come and collect a toy. That’s what we do it for.”

Parents get in touch with Ms Liddiard via Facebook or in person at the pub.

In one night alone, 10 toys had been given away.

Ms Liddiard wraps all the presents herself so the toys are a surprise for the children.

Her son Craig, 46, who lives nearby in Tufnell Park, helped set up the initiative.

He said: “This lady came to bingo and was speaking to mum and was saying, ‘I hope I’ll win – it’ll be nice to have the money for Christmas’.

“I said to mum, ‘Look how lucky we are, and there’s some poor little kid who has nothing’.”

Mr Liddiard is a funeral director in Holloway, and he set up a shop inside his funeral home to store the presents for parents to collect.

Remaining toys will be donated to Noah’s Ark Children’s Hospice.

Speaking about the bingo group at the Hercules, he added: “It’s a full house – it’s rammed. You can win a lot of money. I went the other week and was lucky enough to win £600.”

Ms Liddiard also fundraised for toys last year, and donated any leftovers to the Whittington Hospital.

They are hoping to have raised £1,500 by the end of the year.