Edith with some of the presents

Is 90-year-old Edith Abbey the kindest Grandmother in Britain? : She is reported to have spent over £800 to buy gifts for all 200 members of her family. If your Christmas shopping seems to have been an endless task this year, imagine how it was for her.

The generous grandmother ignores her advancing years and prides herself on carefully selecting individual gifts for all her family. For the pensioner from North Yorkshire that starts with 14 children, then add 85 grandchildren, 40 great-grandchildren, 20 great-great-grandchildren and all of their partners. In all, that is more than 200 presents for her to think about.

Wheelchair-bound Mrs Abbey, of Malton, who is helped by her daughter Kathy Cooper, herself 63, begins her extensive shopping spree over two months before Christmas. She is a firm believer in the addage that ‘it’s the thought that counts’, so there are no expensive purchases. Nevertheless, she still spends over £800.

The gifts include watches, aftershave, boxes of biscuits and other treats. Even though some of the family have moved as far away as Florida, Mrs Abbey makes sure no one is left out. Her daughter said: “She must be the country’s most generous grandma. I think she still makes the effort because she likes embracing the Christmas spirit of giving. She is quite reserved but you can tell she gets great pleasure from seeing the look on the kids’ faces when they open the presents”.

She added “We help her buy in the presents. We don’t do it all at once, we will go out for a couple of hours here and there. We start taking her out as early as October on special shopping days to York. But she likes to do things properly so it’s no quick job. She’s a very strong lady and she’s always done her best for all us.”