80岁的比尔·霍顿（Bill Houghton）今年圣诞节亲手为贫困儿童制作了数百件精美的木制玩具——这一切源于一个小男孩的故事深深打动了他。

距离拉普兰两千多英里，在威根郊区一个隐蔽的车库深处，一位蓄着白胡子、笑容灿烂的男子正在他的工作间里手工制作玩具。

他的桌面上摆满了锯子、车床、颜料管、胶水罐和半成品的木料。巨大的箱子里塞满了各式木制儿童玩具——带轮子的卡车、汽车、大象，还有鸭子、小狗以及其他各种动物造型。"大家都说我是威根的圣诞老人，"比尔·霍顿（Bill Houghton）眨着眼睛笑道，"或许真是这样。圣诞节本就是属于孩子们的节日，不是吗？无论在圣诞还是其他任何时候，都不该有孩子被遗忘。"

这位开朗的80岁老人过去三年一直在为贫困儿童制作精美玩具，起因是一个小男孩的故事深深打动了他。"当地慈善机构'水仙花之梦'告诉我，有个年仅三岁的小男孩连一件玩具都没有，"比尔声音颤抖地说道，"一无所有。"

想到那个小男孩的处境让我心如刀割。在我的成长过程中，我是幸运的，拥有一个快乐的童年，从未缺衣少食。我痛恨如今有些孩子的父母正为支付各种开销而苦苦挣扎，他们甚至会在圣诞节期间陷入困境。当时我想：‘我绝不能袖手旁观’。我只想尽己所能提供帮助。似乎情况还在不断恶化，而我只想贡献自己的一份力量。

在一位热心玩具制造商的帮助下，维冈慈善机构“水仙花之梦”将在今年圣诞节期间为数百个家庭送去玩具。该机构长期为贫困家庭提供校服、旅行资助和音乐课程等基本援助，这些家庭对能有些礼物精心包装后放在圣诞树下充满感激。

慈善机构表示，威根市四分之一的儿童生活在贫困线以下。但多亏了这场“市场街奇迹”，数百名孩子将在圣诞袜中收到精美的木质玩具。其中亮粉色的猪仔和卡车玩具尤其受欢迎，而装满玩具的礼盒也已售出，为慈善事业筹集资金。

比尔今年甚至完成了几项特殊请求——包括为他的邮递员和孩子们定制了一辆卡车。慈善机构创始人莫琳·霍尔克罗夫特表示：“比尔就像天使一样，他所做的事情非常特别。去年我们帮助了700名儿童，比尔功不可没。他是个了不起的人，我们由衷感激。在我们看来，他制作的玩具永远供不应求——人们真心喜爱他的玩具，也真心喜爱比尔。”

比尔曾是一名装配工，也是两个孩子的父亲。最初他制作玩具只是为了送给邻居家的孩子。后来，其他人也开始向他索要这些玩具。不久后，他手工制作的独特玩具便口口相传开来。如今，在各类看似专业的夹具和台钳环绕下，他整个冬天都在手工制作玩具——切割、上色，再为每一个玩具亲手装上轮子。

今年早些时候，比尔失去了相伴近60年的爱妻帕特。他解释说，帕特是他的“贴纸协调员”——她总是与比尔并肩工作，为他每一件作品增添色彩斑斓的点睛之笔。在我们交谈时，厨房台面上摆放着他们曾在幸福时光中微笑合影的照片。

这将是比尔失去她后的第一个圣诞节，但他说她会希望他继续前行。于是，开云app在线他每天早晨9点半便钻进车库改造的工作间，靠姜饼和咖啡提神，借简易燃气取暖器驱寒，埋头忙碌。简单吃过熏鲱鱼午餐后，他又继续工作到下午四点。但比尔的心思始终萦绕在他的玩具上。"我在构思新设计，或是制作人们定制的作品，"他解释道，"今年有人找我制作**曼联**、**利物浦**和**曼城**主题的玩具。"

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“我不得不新买了一些蓝色颜料。所有颜料，我用的每一样东西，都必须对孩子安全。孩子们会随身带着这些玩具，我觉得有些玩具就像他们的安抚毯，他们会带着玩具上床睡觉，形影不离。我只想给他们一个能带来快乐的玩具。如今孩子们有太多选择，但他们似乎很喜欢我的玩具。或许是因为它们简单，又或许是因为它们色彩明快。”

几周前比尔的作品出现在Instagram上时，他发现自己突然走红。"我对社交媒体不太在行，"他说，"只用Facebook。我孙子帮我打理这些，他一直在给我看，情况有点疯狂，对吧？"

比尔新近获得的名气使他受邀在威根的棉花工厂点亮圣诞彩灯——当时他身着精灵服饰。这一亮相再次引发社交媒体上对他善举的如潮赞誉。"大家真的非常友善，"他微笑着说，"我希望这能帮助筹集大量资金。虽然我们需要'水仙花之梦'这样的慈善机构令人难过，但我很高兴能尽自己的一份力。"

比尔带我们参观他的工作室，里面堆满了成箱的轮子、木块和看起来令人印象深刻的锯子，直堆到房梁。在这些物品中，一只鲜绿色的鸭子玩具格外引人注目。"啊，这可是个特别的玩具，"比尔解释道，"这是给我曾孙女的，她将在今年圣诞节出生。我得给她做个特别的东西。"

我们离开时，比尔正在为他制作的木制考拉做最后的修饰——这个设计的灵感来自他居住在澳大利亚的亲戚——某个幸运的孩子将在圣诞节拆开这份礼物。"圣诞节不在于豪华的大餐、花费大量金钱或其他任何东西，而在于孩子们，确保他们快乐，"比尔说。"听到有些家庭买不起礼物送给孩子，这让我心如刀绞。这让我心碎。""所以，我会继续制作我的动物和玩具，确保每个人都有礼物可以拆开和珍藏，并帮助那些需要帮助的人。"

请在此处向“水仙花之梦”捐款。

Bill Houghton, 80, is hand-making hundreds of beautiful wooden toys for children in need this Christmas C after one little boy's story captured his heart.

Over 2,000 miles from Lapland , hidden deep inside a suburban garage in Wigan, a white-bearded man with a megawatt smile is handmaking toys in his workshop.

The surface of his desk is covered by saws, lathes, tubes of paint, jars of glue and half-cut shapes. Giant boxes are filled with wooden childrens toys C trucks, cars, elephants on wheels, ducks, dogs , and animals of every kind. "They're saying I'm the Wigan Santa ," Bill Houghton, says with a twinkly smile. "And maybe I am. Christmas is all about the children, isn't it? No child should be going without, at Christmas C or any other time."

The cheerful 80-year-old has been crafting beautiful toys for children in need for the last three years, after one little boy's story captured his heart. "A local charity, Daffodil Dreams, told me about a little lad, he was only three, who didn't have any toys at all," Bill says, trembling with emotion. "Nothing.

That cut me up, to think of that little lad. When I was growing up, I was lucky, I had a happy childhood, I didn't go without. I was never cold or hungry - I hate that there are children today whose mums and dads are struggling to pay for everything, who will be struggling at Christmas. I thought, 'I'm not having that'. I just want to help, to do what I can. It seems like things are getting harder if anything, and I just want to do my bit."

With the kind-hearted toy-maker's help, Daffodil Dreams C a Wigan charity that helps families out with essentials like school uniforms, trips away and music lessons C will be delivering toys to hundreds of families this Christmas, all grateful for something to wrap up and pop under the tree.

The charity says a quarter of children in Wigan live below the poverty line. But thanks to this Miracle of Market Street, hundreds of these kids will receive a beautiful wooden toy in their stocking. The bright pink pigs and trucks are especially popular, while boxes full of toys have been sold to raise funds for the charity too.

Bill has even tackled a few special requests this year C including creating a customised truck for his postman and his children. "Bill is an angel," says Maureen Houlcroft, the charity's founder. "What he does is very special. Last year we helped 700 children and Bill is part of that. He's a wonderful man and we really do appreciate it. He can't make enough as far as we're concerned C people really do love his toys and they love Bill."

When Bill, a former fitter and dad of two, first started making toys it was for his neighbours' children. Then other people started to ask for them, and before long word got round that he was creating something special. Now, surrounded by some serious-looking clamps and vices, he spends all winter making toys, cutting, painting and adding wheels to each one by hand.

Bill lost beloved his wife of almost 60 years, Pat earlier this year. She was, he explains, his 'sticker co-ordinator' C she'd work alongside Bill adding colourful finishing touches to each one of his creations. A photo of them, smiling together in happier times, sits on the kitchen counter as we chat.

This will be Bill's first Christmas without her, but he says she'd want him to keep going. So, he does, beavering away in his garage workshop, starting at 9.30 each morning, sustained by ginger biscuits and coffee and warmed by a simple gas heater. After a light lunch of kippers, he carries on until 4pm. But hes always thinking about his toys. "I'm thinking up designs or making stuff people ask for," he explains. "I've been asked to do Manchester United , Liverpool and Manchester City toys this year.

"I've had to buy some new blue paint. All the paint, everything I use, has to be safe for children. Children carry the toys around, some of them are like security blankets I think, they take them to bed and all sorts. "I just want to give them a toy that will make them happy. There are so many things for kids to choose from these days but they seem to like mine. Maybe it's because they're simple, or because they're cheerful."

When Bill's work appeared on Instagram a few weeks ago he found himself going viral. "I'm not that up with social media," he says. "Only Facebook . My grandson looks after it all for me, hes been showing me, it went a bit crazy, didnt it?

Bills new-found fame meant he was asked to switch on the Christmas lights at Wigan's Cottonworks C dressed as an elf. His appearance triggered another outpouring of appreciation for his kindness on social media. "People have been really nice," he smiles. "And I hope it helps raise lots of money. It's sad that we need charities like Daffodil Dreams but Im glad I can do my bit to help."

As he gives us a tour of his workshop rammed to the rafters with boxes of wheels, blocks of wood and impressive-looking saws, one toy stands out C a bright green duck. "Ah, now this is a special one," Bill explains. "It's for my great-grandchild, shes due to arrive this Christmas. I had to make her something special."

We leave Bill putting the finishing touches to a wooden koala C a design inspired by relatives he has living in Australia C that some lucky child will unwrap on Christmas Day. Christmas is not about a fancy meal or spending lots of money or anything else, it' s about the children and making sure theyre happy," Bill says. "It cuts me up to hear about children whose families can't afford to buy them a present. It breaks my heart. "So, Ill keep making my animals and the toys to make sure everyone has something to open and keep, and to help those that need it."

Donate to Daffodil Dreams here .

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