A BUSINESS which donates gift hampers to good causes has been honoured with a certificate from The Lord Lieutenant of Bedfordshire.

Maldon based-business Secret Hamper have received a Certificate or Appreciation from The Lord Lieutenant of Bedfordshire for their special #ThankYouNHS delivery earlier this year.

Founder Nigel Richardson delivered 100 hampers containing thousands of treats to thank NHS for their work.

Nigel said: "We wanted to make this delivery extra special as we were in the middle of lockdown and some amazing things were happening around the country.

"We, like many others, were in awe of Captain Tom Moore’s Fundraising achievement so we decided to allocate the next 100 hampers that were sponsored as part of our ongoing #ThankYouNHS initiative would be delivered to a hospital of Captain Toms choice on his 100th Birthday.

"I put the idea out on our social media channels and was blown away by the response. Within a couple of weeks we had exceeded our target and had 150 hampers in total sponsored.

"Special thanks to Jason Vale aka The Juice Master, whose book Create Magic is included in the hampers, for sponsoring 48 hampers as did RFIB Group.

"We delivered the 100 hampers to Bedford hospital on Capt Toms birthday day and the following day the extra 50 to Harrogate District Hospital.

"A couple of weeks later I was privileged to be invited to Captain Toms family home to present the 100th hamper to his daughter Hannah for the family to enjoy.

"Getting this Certificate of Appreciation is the icing on the cake as it’s great to know that our initiative is being taken notice of and more importantly making a difference. It’s been challenging running this alongside our day to day hamper business as there’s so much to do.

"To date we’ve managed to complete 8 of 70 hospitals, delivered in excess of 570 hampers and 30,000 treats! That’s a lot of doctors, nurses, porters and office staff all receiving a morale boost in these challenging times.

"I’d just like to thank everyone that's contributed to our campaign to date, I dedicate this recognition to you all for making our dream a reality."