A GRIEVING widow has been overwhelmed by the generosity of people for giving her children something to look forward to at Christmas.

Debbie Shah was devastated when her husband, Riku, 29, was found dead last month.

Mrs Shah, also 29, believes he took his life and that losing £600 in the collapse of Christmas savings company Fare-pak was one of the factors that led to his death.

The body of the taxi operator was found in the River Tees, in Stockton.

After his funeral, Mrs Shah, from Stockton, was left wondering how she was going to buy presents for her three sons Daniel, 14, Kane, ten, and Bradley, six. But now local people have anonymously donated more than £300 to help her buy the presents she had promised her sons before the Farepak collapse.

She said: "Riku was a really special person, who meant the world to me and our children.

"The kids and I would like to thank the people so much who have so kindly given Daniel, Kane and Bradley something to look forward to, as this Christmas is going to be so hard for us all."

Meanwhile, another North-East mother has had to take on a part-time job to help pay for Christmas following the collapse of Farepak.

Housewife Gillian Thompson, a mother-of-two, from Darlington, who was an agent for the hamper firm, said she and her relatives had lost nearly £1,000 in the scandal.

She said: "Me and my husband lost £400 when Farepak collapsed. I have had to take on a part-time job to buy some Christmas presents for my two children.

"I am selling Avon, so I am taking my two children with me when I do that."

Mrs Thompson, 29, who is married to Brian, 36, a mortgage consultant, said Christmas would feel different this year, but that they were putting on a brave face because of their two children, three-year-old Rosie and Lily, four months.

She said: "It just won't feel like Christmas this year, but we are making the most of it because of the children.

"I am not buying my husband anything for Christmas and the adults in my family are not getting anything either. Everything is going on the children."

Mrs Thompson said she had received £150 in vouchers as compensation from the Farepak Response Fund and thanked everyone who had donated to it. She said: "That is why the fund has been so great. People from all over the country are rallying around -the response has been fantastic."