Meet the girl picked as Plymouth Argyle's Wembley mascot thanks to her grandad

A Plymouth schoolgirl will be Argyle's Wembley mascot this weekend - all thanks to the volunteering efforts of her grandad.

Pearl Dixon's grandad Chris spends two days a week volunteering for Plymouth Argyle's Project 35 charity, which aims to reduce child poverty in the city and surrounding areas.

The scheme, which is supported by club sponsor Ginsters, called on supporters to pledge 35 hours - but Chris has far surpassed that, with more than 300.

Twice a week, Chris collects food parcels from the Fareshare Charity and takes them to organisations across Plymouth and the whole of the South West.

Because of the work he does, the team behind Project 35 at Plymouth Argyle Community Trust offered him the chance to pick the mascot for this weekend's cup final against Bolton Wanderers.

Project 35 coordinator Trevor Higgins told ITV News West Country: "Chris Dixon has been an absolute inspiration. Pledge 35 is supposed to be 35 hours. He has done well over 300 with Fareshare. He's going to get his day out and richly deserved."

Chris has five grandchildren and put each of their names into a hat, picking eight year old Pearl for the honour.

While Pearl is delighted to be leading out her favourite team on Sunday, she's even more proud of her grandad.

"I was really, really happy because I'm really lucky to have a grandad who works for charity and for people with no food or water. I'm really lucky about it," she said.

It will be an emotional day for the whole family at the weekend, but not least for grandad Chris, who will cheer on his beloved Greens and his beloved granddaughter.

He said: "There's going to be tears of joy in block 125. I just hope any Argyle fans up there if they see me with tears streaming down my face, they'll understand why."