Like millions of others little Billy Ireland was moved by the now-famous John Lewis Christmas TV ad depicting a lonely old man on the moon.

So dismayed to learn that many elderly people spend Christmas alone a little boy has turned into Medway’s youngest Santa and is giving up part of his day to bring some joy to those who won’t be seeing friends or family.

The six-year-old pupil at Gordon school in Strood, who is lucky enough to have Christmas with both sets of his grandparents as well as his parents and two siblings, will be spending his afternoon visiting older people in two nearby homes instead of playing with his new toys.

Mum Melissa Ireland, of Choir Close, Wainscott, said: “He’s quite a sensitive soul, and the advert made him really upset, he started crying. He just couldn’t understand why people would be alone.

“He said ‘mum, are people really that lonely? It makes me sad’. I had to sit him down and explain to him about people getting older, and loved ones not always being around anymore.

“That’s when he asked about the people down the road and if we could do something to make them happy. So I said we should go and find out.”

"He said ‘mum, are people really that lonely? It makes me sad’." - Melissa Ireland

They visited Montgomery Court in Wainscott, which has flats for people to live independently but with 24-hour support if needed. They also went to residential and dementia care home Grafton Lodge in Strood.

Staff in both places knew of a handful of people who would be alone this Christmas. With seven names, Billy and Mrs Ireland started collecting gifts to make up Christmas boxes to take over on the day.

The 31-year-old also put out a Facebook post saying how proud she was of Billy, and off the back of that people got in touch offering gifts to add into the boxes, from mugs to jigsaws and cosmetics to hats and gloves.

The part-time primary teacher said: “We’ve actually got much more than we expected, my dining room is full of presents. So we’re going back to the homes to see if there’s anyone else who might appreciate some company and gifts on the day.”

The little Santa is planning to have Christmas morning with his family, before heading over to both residential homes to hand out gifts, and spend a few hours chatting to the older people.

“Normally children just think of Christmas as being about the presents, but it was nice that Billy really saw the bigger picture. He’s really followed through with it and wanted to be involved in every step, we’re so proud of him.”

After Mrs Ireland’s Facebook post was shared, the managing director of John Lewis, Andy Street, was also alerted to Billy’s kind actions.

She said: “He personally thanked Billy for everything he was doing, and staff went round the stores and picked out gifts for the people we’re going to visit, which they sent out to add into the boxes as well.”

Billy also received some Man On The Moon merchandise from the department store.