KIND-hearted East Lancashire residents have been helping those less fortunate than themselves during a global day of charitable action.

After the sales of Black Friday and the online shopping boom on Cyber Monday, GivingTuesday gave people an opportunity to come together to show the world why it’s good to give.

Staff and regulars at the Clifton Arms in Blackburn collected goods to fill Christmas hampers.

As a result of their efforts, 12 hampers were delivered to needy people in the Clifton community.

Carol Davis from the Clifton Arms said: "It worked really, really well. The people that we gave them to were overwhelmed.

"We put it on Facebook and a lot of people got involved and gave out hampers to the rest of the community.

"We thought that it worked really well and we're going to do it every year."

Rossendale Hospice also joined in with the initiative, encouraging people to donate in the run-up to Christmas, and asking people to tweet 'unselfies' - a picture of them showing their support for Giving Tuesday.

Eating disorder charity SEED and Together Lancashire also got involved.

GivingTuesday is a global day of giving, covering countries the world over, including the United States, Australia, Singapore, Canada, and Israel.

This year, the campaign was launched in the UK by the Charities Aid Foundation with support from software provider Blackbaud.

The campaign was a nationwide success, with charity donations on the day rising by 270 per cent compared with the same day last year, according to Blackbaud.

The company, which helped to promote Giving Tuesday in the UK, said donations were up by 43 per cent compared with any other Tuesday in the year.

Charity giving website JustGiving’s co-founder, Zarine Kharas, said: “At the heart of #GivingTuesday is the desire to bring people together to show the world why it’s good to give.

“It is a perfect antidote to Black Friday and Cyber Monday – a day dedicated to thinking about and taking action together for charitable causes close to everyone’s hearts."