A generous Irvine businessman has proven the festive spirit is very much alive after donating £2,000 towards a children’s panto trip.

Gordon Rennie, who owns Gro Coffee Shop in the Harbourside, has made the generous pledge towards the Fullarton Community Hub’s festive pantomime trip.

Gordon says the gesture is a thank you from the team at Gro for the local support.

He said: “Every year we try and give something back to the community or to charity and this year I just felt like it would be nice to put money directly back into the community who have supported us.

“The business has been doing well so I wanted to spread some of that out and what better way than to give it straight to kids. Our basic ethos is to be as ethical as we can be with everything that we do and this is just a natural extension of that.”

Donna Fitzpatrick from Fullarton Community Hub said Gordon’s donation would go a long way. She said: “We are delighted to accept Gordon’s generous donation. That money will take the pressure off us as a community fundraising to make sure our kids get to the panto this year and there will even be some left over to put towards next Summer’s trip.

“For community groups like us we have to continuously be fundraising to find money to do what we do. There is no external funding, it’s difficult just getting by so having that pressure taken off us at this time of year is just amazing. It’s all about the kids and it’s great that people like Gordon are willing to make a difference.”