Newcastle's Big River Bakery releases Christmas advert starring 'Scotty the Stottie'

A bakery has filmed its own Christmas advert as part of its campaign to help children who would go without.

Big River Bakery's campaign aims to help people "pay it forward" by allowing people to buy a toy for a child in need.

The Newcastle bakery's festive advert features its own song The Power of The Stottie, which was written by Tony and Jacob Gowland and sung by Lily Cooke.

The heartwarming advert stars "Scotty the Stottie", who gets separated from his owner Wilhemina - only for the pair to be reunited at Christmas.

The campaign aims to raise funds for its many community projects, including providing free breakfasts in schools and meals for homeless people in the area.

The bakery, based in Shieldfield is also offering customers the chance to 'Gift a Scotty' by ordering their own cuddly toy through their website, with donations going towards its local projects.

With every order, a child in need will also receive their own Scotty toy to open at Christmas.

The bakery is working with local schools and organisations including the West End Refugee Service and children's hospice to ensure they reach those who would otherwise go without.

Gail Lawler from Big River Bakery, who has written a story about Scotty which is also available to buy, said: "The idea behind the 'Gift a Scotty' campaign actually came from one of our customers. We were telling them the profits go to children and they asked, 'can I gift a Scotty?' and it just went from there.

"So now we're gifting to kids who don't have much - so people gift a Scotty, which we can give, but also the profits on that go towards our projects like free breakfasts in schools, and baking sessions."

The company says it has adopted creative means to market its products to help keep its costs down, so that its products remain affordable to as many people as possible.

Andy Haddon, also from Big River Bakery, said: "We've sold quite a lot but I've got a living room full of stotties that need shifting!

"It helps us to be viable - at the end of the day, we've got bills to bills to pay. We have to come up with these innovative ideas to keep our costs down. That's really important to us as a community business.

"People like the kindness of what we're about and they're really connecting with it. It's something that has the potential to just grow and grow - but we'll just take it one stottie at a time."

Want a quick and expert briefing on the biggest news stories? Listen to our latest podcasts to find out What You Need To know...