Busy bee Holly's sweet reward for Manchester Arena bomb victims

Holly Capstick, 10, has raised £1,000 in three months for two charities by selling dozens of pieces of her unique Manchester bee artwork.

The Woodfold Primary School student, who is starting year six next week, has spent the summer months raising money for the British Red Cross Solidarity fund and the Saffie-Rose Roussos Fund.

Holly has created individual drawings of the insect which has been the symbol of Manchester since the industrial revolution, but which more recently became symbolic of the May 2017 terror attack victims.

She also created wire bees, which she sold for £5 to mark the one-year anniversary of the atrocity, which killed 22 people and injured hundreds.

“Holly reached her £1,000 target,” said her mum Sue Capstick. “She’s done it really quickly.

“She has mainly been selling them through Facebook but she has been taking them into school as well.

“We also had a lady contact us from Cherry Blossoms Funerals in Orrell who was so taken by what Holly is doing that she commissioned her to do a piece for £100.

“She also had some prints to put up in the parlour.”

Holly, who has always been interested in arts and crafts, came up with the idea to help her mum’s friend Tracey Turner - who works for the British Red Cross Solidarity Fund and was trying to collect handmade bee items to sell in a fundraising bid to mark 12 months since the attack.

The youngster also chose to help raise money for the Saffie-Rose Roussos fund which was set up in memory of the eight-year-old girl, who was the youngest victim of the attack.

Sue added: “I am really proud of her, it’s such a lovely thing for her to have done. It’s been a really good experience for her, too.

“She actually said to me before, ‘I’ve been thinking about the bees. I can’t believe I raised £1,000’.”

To celebrate her daughter’s success, Sue took Holly to follow the Manchester bee trail in the city centre.“There’s also a Manchester Bee shop which said it will stock some of her prints,” she added.

Following her amazing work in the Wigan community, Holly has been asked to create a bee canvas which will be auctioned off at a charity ball next year.