A nine-year-old is helping to raise money for a children’s hospice by selling eggs from her 20 rescue chickens.

Lucy Broughton, from Retford, is aiming to raise £1,000 for the Bluebell Wood hospice in Sheffield by Christmas, after it had to cancel its fundraising events due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

The youngster said: “We heard that lockdown was about to come, and there were some rescue hens. We’ve had them before and because they lay quite a lot of eggs and we’re going to start a rainbow egg stall, we decided to get about 30 of them.”

The family now keeps 20 chickens, after giving 10 to friends and family, which keep the stall well-stocked.

Lucy’s father Bill said: “It’s given her a bit of structure. She’s still got school, but outside of school she’s not seeing her friends, she’s not able to go and do what she wants to do.

“When she’s got a bit of free time it helps fill up that time and therefore she’s not spending all her time sat on an iPad or watching Netflix.”

Lucy has so far raised more than £250 for the charity.