'Santa Claus' roofer shows Christmas spirit by doing repairs for free in aid of Ashgate Hospicecare and Sheffield Children's Hospital

Liam Anderson, who runs Lords Roofing & Sons Ltd, will help people who are struggling for money by asking them to give what they can afford when he repairs their roof on December 18 and 19.

He said: “Putting smiles on a few people's faces at Christmas makes me happy.”

Kind-hearted Liam reckons on carrying out up to 12 small repairs a day over that weekend.

He is appealing for people to message him on Facebook with their name, address and brief description of the repair. “Unfortunately we cannot get back to everyone and we will select at random the jobs we will attend,” he said.

This is the fourth year that Liam has supported Ashgate Hospicecare with his intiative. He said: “The smile that I got off the first customer during that first year was enough to thank me for the whole weekend. Everyone was so grateful."This year’s donations will be split between Ashgate Hospice and Sheffield Children’s Hospital.

Liam, who has two boys aged 8 and 4, said: "I read an article that the hospital hadn’t many things to keep older children and babies entertained so I’d like to get an Xbox and teddies for them.

"My wife’s relative was in the hospice and was really poorly and couldn’t eat anything. She wanted a milk ice lolly and within two minutes the staff had gone out to get them – they were absolutely amazing.”

Over the years, Liam reckons to have raised around £10,000 for charity.

He said: “I’m not rich and have struggled myself in the past. I started the business six years ago with a £200 car and a set of ladders borrowed off my father in law – the first job paid for a roof rack for my car.”

Liam now has ten employees working with him in his firm.

His wife Laura, who is managing director of the company, said her husband would be doing the Christmas repairs for free the day before his 40th birthday. She said: “I call him Santa Claus.”

The roofer’s generous offer has won praise on social media.

Posting on the firm’s Facebook site Lorna Marriott said: “Fantastic, brings back faith in genuine people.”

Sam Bates posted: “Amazing! My son just had his 21st operation at Sheffield Children’s so you are wonderful!”

Carl Jones, fundraising manager at Ashgate Hospice, said: "We're so grateful that Lord's Roofing Repairs have chosen to fundraise for us once again this Christmas time – and what a generous way to support the local community too!

"This is the fourth year that Liam and his team have offered their time and services in support of the hospice and everyone at Ashgate is so grateful for their generosity.

"We're currently facing another difficult winter due to an increase in Covid-19 cases and the winter flu. Any donation made to Lords Roofing Repairs will help us continue providing compassionate end of life care through the difficult months ahead."

The hospice, which relies on the generosity of the community to raise millions of pounds a year to keep its specialist services going, is reaching out to businesses and organisations to support its Winter Appeal.

To book a job for the Christmas roof repairs weekend, send a message via Facebook at fb.com/LordsRoofing1