THE charitable work of a Wirral care home has been recognised with a special community award.

The Hazelwell, a residential, nursing, palliative and respite care home in Heswall, which opened in the summer of 2016, has supported YMCA Wirral for two years and was honoured by the charity with a Golden Hearts in the Community award.

Staff and residents at the home have helped provide the organisation with much-needed clothing parcels, such as hats, scarves, gloves and other items to help people, without a home or shelter, deal with the cold temperatures in winter.

They have also regularly raised money for the charity, including recently hosting a Christmas family day, with proceeds from a festive raffle donated to the YMCA's night shelter at Birkenhead.

The organisation was founded in 1874 and its mission is focused on helping young people to overcome homelessness and making sure that they feel like they belong and thrive in their local communities.

It introduced the Golden Hearts in the Community award in 1946. Its first recipients were the Air Raid Patrol (ARP) who rescued residents from bombed-out houses - who were subsequently left homeless - during the blitz in the Second World War around Royal Albert Dock.

The Hazelwell becomes the 25th receiver of the award.

The organisation’s chief executive Nigel Hughes said: "The Golden Hearts in the Community award is recognition that the staff and residents at The Hazelwell are a very special group of people in the Wirral community.

"It is not something which is awarded very often and only for an outstanding deed or gesture so it really is well-deserved.

"No other care home in the Wirral has ever helped the YMCA Wirral.

"The Hazelwell contacted us not long after it opened and have supported us ever since.

"The staff and residents are fully behind doing all they can for us.

"You would think that when a person goes into residential care that they would be more concerned about their own lives so it’s extremely heart-warming for residents of The Hazelwell to think about trying to help others."

The Hazelwell care home manager Kathryn McGuinness said: "It's a huge honour for us to be given this award by the YMCA for only the 25th time in its long history.

"We are extremely pleased to have been able to support the YMCA Wirral in any way that we can.

"They are a fantastic charity who do fantastic work in our local community, which our residents recognise and are appreciative of.

"I'm sure that our residents and staff will continue to support the YMCA Wirral in achieving their mission.

"We look forward to working with Nigel and the charity for years to come."