A four-year-old girl who had her birthday party ruined by teenagers who destroyed her egg stand has had a new one gifted by Aldi.
Maisie Willis was celebrating her fourth birthday on April 18 and had spent the morning collecting eggs from her pet chickens.
Her parents had bought her a small wooden shop front, where she could sit and sell boxes of eggs to the neighbours.
But while Maisie, her family and friends, were celebrating in the back garden, two teenagers wearing balaclavas snatched the shop front.
A neighbour spotted the youths and confronted them – but the teens just laughed.
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When Maisie’s parents stepped outside, they saw the shop front broken in the street, with all of the eggs smashed on the ground.
Aldi has since come to the rescue and have given her a brand new stall where she can sell the eggs from
The family shared photos of the thieves on social media – and quickly found the identity of one of the boys, who visited to apologise to Maisie.
Maisie’s dad Tony said: ‘My wife went and explained what effect he’d had and politely asked if he would come and apologise to the four-year-old girl whose business he’d ruined – and he did, he came and apologised half-heartedly.
‘My wife took her outside and said this is the lad that ruined the egg stand, and she immediately started crying.’
Despite the experience being traumatic for young Maisie, the family and local community are incredibly proud of her for her resilience and business smarts.
‘A few of the neighbours have come round and delivered extra little gifts to Maisie, and we’ve had lots of kind words from the neighbours,’ Tony said.
‘Obviously, she gets help from my wife and me, but she’s going to go far, I’m sure. She’s got a wonderful life ahead of her with her business brain.’