Dear Editor,

May I, by the way of your letters page, pay a most sincere thank you to the very kind, elderly gentleman who approached me and my son, Andrew, (who has Down's Syndrome) while in the baker’s shop at Lockswood Centre and insisted, despite my attempted refusal, that I take a £10 note from him “to pay for breakfast” because he had come into some money (his words).

I did manage some sort of thanks but had to hurry away as I was close to tears. We expect and accept kindness from our friends but I was totally overwhelmed by such kindness from a total stranger.

I would like this gentleman to know that recently on of Andrew’s very special friends, a lady called Caroline (who also has Down’s Syndrome) passed away and he misses her very much. After her funeral in a few days time Andrew will join with more of Caroline’s friends to share a meal in her memory so his gift will be put to good use.

I can only say “thank you” again and hope that very kind gentleman or someone who knows who he is will read this and know how much his kindness is appreciated.

Andrew’s mum, Janet