A family has been raising money for NHS staff battling Covid-19 by setting up a stall outside their home.

During lockdown, Stephen Hall, his wife Karen, and two children, Issie, 12 and Rory, six, have set up a small book and toy stall outside their house in Mierscourt Road, Gillingham, so that people passing can make a small donation in support of Medway Maritime NHS Trust.

Gallery1

Karen, a teaching assistant, came up with the idea of setting up a little library to cheer up people while they were doing daily exercise.

Stephen, who works as a manager, said: "Issie and Rory added some toys they no longer played with in the hope of raising money for the NHS battling the coronavirus.

"People can either take the books and toys for free or leave a donation.

"When we see people approach the stall, they wait for someone to finish browsing before looking themselves, keeping to the social distancing recommendations. The stall is unmanned and there is a donation box.

"We didn’t ask for money in the beginning. Instead we left post-it notes and pens and asked for messages of thanks for the NHS and our community.

"Some people kindly left small change and suddenly it just grew.

Gallery1

"We decided to set an initial target of £100. When we surpassed this, we moved the target to £500."

The Hall family have now made more than £1,225 in three weeks.

Karen said: "We started with books and toys and then when we advertised what we were doing on the local community Facebook page, a number of people started to donate a wide selection of items including hair accessories, books, toys, clothes, DVDs, XBOX games, homemade craft boxes, dog leads, shoes and much more.

"We plan to keep putting the stall out for as long as we are in lockdown and still have items for people to enjoy.

"The money will then be automatically given to Medway Maritime Hospital as we have set up a JustGiving page."

Read more: All the latest news from Medway