Will Mellor began selfless Christmas family tradition for heart-warming reason

Will Mellor's family tradition will make your heart melt.

In an exclusive chat with Daily Star, Mellor revealed a sweet family tradition he started with his kids when they were younger. The actor explained that he wanted to make sure they learned to be grateful from a very early age.

Mellor said: "I always say to the kids: ‘What have you given? Are you going to help somebody?’ I instill this in my kids. We had this tradition for years as they were growing up - they knew they were getting presents for Christmas, so I’d go around their toy cupboard and ask them to pick things they haven’t played with for a while, put them in a Santa sack and take them to children’s hospitals for kids that need them."

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“I let my children give their toys to kids that didn’t have anything so they could experience the feeling of giving. It's not about: ‘Can I have this? Can I have more?’ The greed, it’s about giving and that’s what gets me about Christmas. It’s all about: ‘What can I have?’”

The ex-Hollyoaks star explained that the festive season should be about "what people can give" and made a point to ensure that his children grew up learning the importance of helping others and people less fortunate. Mellor also added that "being empathetic is so important".

Will is helping raise awareness of data poverty around the holidays and is working with Virgin Media O2 and National Databank to help keep people connected with their loved ones. Data poverty is a term used when people don't have access to the internet to complete tasks we often take for granted, such as online banking, job applications and of course, keeping in contact with those who mean the most.

People in need can get a free O2 SIM with 25GB of monthly data for 12 months, which is enough for 275 hours of internet browsing per month, at O2 stores across the UK. To be eligible, recipients must be 18 or over and from a low-income household.

Data poverty is a problem that hits home for Will: "Poverty is a big thing, important to me because I experienced it as a kid. On a council estate all our clothes came from jumble sales, hand me downs, that sort of thing. I never felt poor, that was just the way it was!"

“Campaigns like this, where people can get something for free, I’m all over it! Things cost money these days, everything is too expensive, everything has gone up in price."

“Where would you be without your data? We all take it for granted - emails, messages, WhatsApp, just being online. Imagine how isolating it is if you can’t do any of that? Especially at Christmas time.”

Will Mellor has teamed with Virgin Media O2 to unveil the ‘Data Darkness’ art installation on London’s South Bank, created to raise awareness of data poverty in the UK. The company has rolled out the National Databank to all O2 stores nationwide, where people in need can get free O2 mobile data so they can get online and stay connected to loved ones this Christmas and beyond.

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