Meet the caring nine-year-old who is dedicating her year to making a difference during the cost of living crisis.
Eva Milburn has made it her mission to collect as many donations as possible for foodbanks in the North East after being "shocked" to learn how vital they are. Her dream is to help many people and go on to beat the world record for the number of foodbank donations from one person.
And since setting herself the challenge in December last year she has already donated hundreds of food items to Gateshead Foodbank. Now her kindness and determination is inspiring people in her community to get involved.
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Eva's dad, Mark Milburn, said: "She's an absolute superstar and she's constantly making me proud."
Eva, from Whickham, set herself the challenge of collecting foodbank donations in December last year after a member of Gateshead Foodbank gave a talk at Junior Church, which Eva attends. Following the talk, the schoolgirl asked her family, friends and members of the church if they could to a reverse advent calendar for the foodbank in which people donate an item every day.
But by January this year Eva had set her sights on a bigger challenge - to beat the world record for foodbank donations from a single person. And she's been working towards her target ever since.
Mark, 37, said: "She took the reverse advent calendar donation to Gateshead Foodbank and then she said next year we could do a challenge where we try and break the world record for the amount of donations from one person. I'm not sure if there is a world record for that, but we went with it and she's been trying to think of different ideas to raise money and collect donations ever since."
While it is unclear whether there is a world record for the number of foodbank donations from a single person, the largest single donation of hunger relief packages listed in the Guinness World Records is 1,000,000, and was achieved by the Tahya Misr Fund, in Cairo, Egypt in September 2021.
Eva has held a number of fundraisers to help her reach her target, including a coffee morning which raised £450 and a collection at the end of her drive. She has also received donation from her swimming and netball out of school clubs and to date has raised over £500 and almost 200kg of food.
Mark added: "I think she got a little bit of a shock with the figures being quite high. She's nine and didn't realise that people rely on it so much.
"She said she was shocked and it was sad that people were having to do this. In the talk the foodbank mentioned that quite often they have to buy food on top of the donations because of the amount that they need to give out and it really moved her in a way to want to do something to make a difference."
Gateshead Foodbank reports that the amount of food given out to people in the local area continues to exceed the amount of food received and the foodbank continues to buy in food to match demand.
Between April 1 and May 31 this year, Gateshead Foodbank received almost 17,900kg of food into its Team Valley warehouse and gave out just over 18,900kg of food, representing a deficit of 1,000 KG. Of the food received, the foodbank bought in almost 5,500kg of food, representing just over 30% of all stock in.
Eva is now gearing up for her next challenge which will take place on August 1 - a 14 mile walk from her home to Sunderland Foodbank warehouse and then on to Gateshead Foodbank. Eva will be taking on the challenge with her dad and together they plan to push a trolley along the route and fill it as they go at any shops they pass on the way.
Mark said: "The foodbanks have been so welcoming. She's had the tour around Gateshead Foodbank in January and they've made a fuss over her. They even got in touch offering her a tour of the Sunderland Foodbank warehouse."
The dad-of-three added: "It's a nice feeling for her to know that she's making a difference because she got a shock when she first heard so to make even the slightest difference is really important to her."
For updates on Eva's challenge and how to donate visit her GoFundMe page via this link.
