A 'Christmas wish tree' at Maldon Tesco is set to make sure the district's care home residents get the festive treat they wanted.

Tesco Community Champion Rhiain Oakley decided to set up the tree after the success of an in-store 'wishing line' that had the wishes of local care home residents pinned to it.

The idea is that customers can choose a wish from the tree and note what it is a particular resident has asked for. They can then donate that gift at the Tesco Maldon store and the team will make sure it gets to the person who wished for it. The tree is designed so each resident gets a chance to have one wish come true, though some of the wishes are easy to grant and some not so.

Rhiain explains: "Sometimes we get a really heartbreaking wish. Once I had one come in from an elderly gentleman who wrote that he just wanted his wife, who he had lost, back with him. I spoke to the care home and they reassured me that though this was very sad, in reality he had no family left and any gift would be a lovely thing for him.

"It made me even more determined to make sure that everyone gets a present."

With this in mind Rhiain urges people not to remove the wishes from the tree in case anyone forgets to donate what they intended, but to simply take details of the gifts that people wish for.

The Maldon tree has been so successful that it has come to the attention of Hello Magazine – and will now feature in the Christmas issue.

Homes that have taken part so far include: Hailey House, Swan Care Home, Longfields, Brewster House, Firstlings and Totham Lodge Care Home.