A KIND-HEARTED mum-of-two has been putting together shoeboxes full of essentials for concertgoers who by the Manchester Arena bombing.

Helen Nesbitt, from Farnworth, has filled the boxes with everything from deodorants, shower gel and face flannels to chocolate bars, hair bobbles and bottles of water.

Nearly 100 packages have been distributed to critical care, high dependency, burns and neurology units in hospitals across Greater Manchester.

Friends of Mrs Nebsitt, including Olivia Edwards, Vicky Kennedy and Laura Griffin have also helped with filling and distributing the shoeboxes.

Samantha Tierney also packed shoeboxes for donation, while her daughter, Ellie Dwerryhouse, encouraged her classmates to make ‘Get Well Soon’ pictures for other children hurt in the blast.

The first packages were delivered to Salford Royal and others followed to Bolton Royal, North Manchester and Wythenshawe.

Mrs Nesbitt has spent a lot of time in hospital with her two-year-old daughter, Poppy, who was born with an oesophageal stricture.

And her experiences mean she is particularly aware of the everyday needs of patients, especially those in high dependency units (HDUs).

The 41-year-old telecommunications worker said: “You are not in a normal ward with storage and things you can put things in.

“In my experience of HDU you really can’t put anything by your bed apart from your chair, because if there’s an emergency the team will need to surround the bed and will need as much space as possible.

“As a patient you can’t have bags and bags of stuff, so everything will be in the shoebox to stick under your chair.

“You’re limited in your space and it’s all well and good having all this stuff but you need them to hand.”

Helen was reassured her team of volunteers were doing the right after meeting the mum and dad of a 17-year-old girl who was seriously injured in the attack.

The teenager had received a shoebox and her parents said they were grateful for their thoughtfulness and generosity.

Other donations to her campaign of kindness come from businesses across Greater Manchester and exiles living as far away as Australia.

Mrs Nesbitt said: “There are people who live in different countries and different counties who are feeling like they want to be in Manchester. They’re feeling helpless because their heart is here. Everyone I meet has been affected by what happened, everyone wants to do something.”

Telling of her horror over the attack, Mrs Nesbitt added: “It’s just tragic, absolutely incomprehensible, nobody would expect it to happen. I had family at the Take That concert just 72 hours earlier. It makes you nervous but you have to keep living your life, you can’t let them win.”

“It’s tragic people have to explain to their children what’s going on in the world to a certain degree, you’re getting children dragged into it.

“But for the majority of people it’s about love, it’s a minority that are doing this and we can’t let them win.”