A GYM owner paid a visit to the children’s ward at York Hospital Ward to hand over some Easter eggs that had been kindly donated by members of the public.

Personal trainer and owner of Legions Gym in York, Ashley Martin, 29, decided to ask for Easter eggs from his clients instead of money in order to donate them to children who will be at York Hospital over the holiday period.

In little over three weeks he had received more than 300 eggs that were delivered to the children on Monday.

Ashley said: "We have a lot of children who train at our gym so we know how important it is to help them as they grow up and teach them the importance of giving back to others.

“We know that some children can’t be at home for Easter so we thought that it would be a nice idea to make sure they had an egg to eat on Easter Sunday.

“When we originally started the campaign we targeted 100 eggs but once we hit that target relatively easily, the eggs just kept on coming.

“Before long it was 200 and to make it past the 300 target was a wonderful achievement.

“Overall we donated 317 eggs to the hospital I would like to thank everybody who helped donate to the cause. You made some children very happy.”

Ashley added that the children at York Hospital were very happy to receive the Easter eggs.

He said: “One of the children on the ward could not believe his eyes when all the eggs turned up.

“I think they were very grateful to receive the Easter Eggs.”

Legions is not the only Gym in York who have been in getting into the Easter spirit.

Generous members of the Bannatyne Health Club and Spa in York are helping to make Easter eggstra-special by giving eggs to a number of of local good charities across the city.

More than 300 Easter eggs were donated by York members, and they have been shared between the NSPCC, Snappy Trust, The Island, York Food Bank and Idas.

General Manager Kevin Easley gave thanks to the generous members who have donated.

He said: “As always our members have risen to the occasion and been incredibly generous.

“Bannatyne Health Club and Spa York prides itself on being part of the local community and we are delighted to have been able to give several local organisations a significant number of Easter eggs to spread some chocolatey happiness.”

Meanwhile a Hotel York, is marking the completion of the first phase of a one million pound refurbishment with an Easter egg hunt around the city.

Middletons Hotel has placed Terry’s Chocolate Orange eggs key places around the city that are ready to be found.

Each Easter egg will also contain some extra prizes including gym membership, gin nights and overnight stays at the hotel in Skeldergate.

Adam Wardale, General Manager, said: “We’ve just refurbished 20 guest rooms, so we are celebrating with 20 Easter eggs hiding 20 great prizes.

“Part of our recent refurbishment included the almhouses, known as the Terry Memorial Homes, that were built through public subscription in honour of Joseph Terry, the famous York confectioner.

“Those cottages have had an incredible makeover and we wanted a unique way to celebrate that transformation, which is where our Easter egg hunt has come from.

“We hope people join in the fun. There will be 20 Easter eggs placed in key visitor attractions and businesses around the city and each one will have a letter of congratulations attached for the lucky finder with additional prizes.”

Clues will be placed on Middletons York’s Facebook and Instagram pages to help people discover the eggs.