A TALENTED mum who makes Easter bonnets to raise money to help her son's rare condition has managed to raise hundreds of pounds, despite to coronavirus lockdown.

Every year Kellie Bates creates intricately designed bonnets for youngsters to wear at their school's bonnet parades.

The money raised from the sales of the bonnets is donated to the Williams Syndrome Foundation, in tribute to her eight-year-old son Matthew who was born with the rare congenital disorder.

Last year Kellie made 443 bonnets and raised £690, but fundraising for Easter 2020 has proved to be much more difficult due to the coronavirus crisis.

With schools closed and people locked in their homes, Kellie saw orders for her designs evaporate overnight last month.

Despite the crisis, she was thrilled to find she had still raised £546 as people still made donations to help the fund.

Kellie said: "This year I sold 162 bonnets and had 108 cancelled orders. I probably lost around 300 orders as it stopped on March 12.

"It was very disappointing but donations kept coming through even if people didn't want the design and I'm still getting donations on PayPal."

Kellie and her family are currently self-isolating due to Matthew's condition but she is determined to make Easter special this year.

She is inviting people on her Facebook page to post photos of their families in their Easter bonnets on social media to spread some positivity and Easter cheer.

The Gornal mum is kicking it off by showing her family sporting her cracking Easter designs and hopes others will join her over the Easter weekend.

She has also vowed to see her bonnets return 'with vengeance' next year, so she can beat last year's total of 443 designs, a target she was unable to meet this year.

Kellie added: "It's been quite overwhelming, people are so generous. Next year I'm going to be back bigger and better than ever!"

To find out more and share your Easter bonnet snaps, search for Kel's Easter Bonnets on Facebook.