SCHOOLCHILDREN are being invited to design a special 'kindness' card to be given to families whose loved ones are dying.

Volunteers on the Compassionate Inverclyde Working Group want to gift Comfort Bags to families who are sitting with a loved one who is dying in hospital.

One of the items to be included in the bag will be a kindness card.

The charity group is keen for local primary school aged children to design the front of the card with the theme 'Kindness Tree'.

Irene Macpherson, who is one of the Compassionate Inverclyde older companions, hopes schools across the area will get involved.

She said: "I am part of a Compassionate Inverclyde working group which is looking at gifting a Comfort Bag to families sitting with a loved one who is dying.

"Often families will get a call to get to the hospital quickly and, in these cases, they do not have time to gather basic comfort items for themselves for, what may be, a long-ish period of time sitting with their loved one.

"It is proposed that the Comfort Bag will contain items such as a toothbrush, toothpaste, comb, tissues, blanket, inflatable pillow and a bottle of water, amongst other useful items.

"One of the items to be included in the bag will be a kindness card.

"We are looking at running a competition for local primary school age children to design the front of the card."

The competition is open to all primary school aged children throughout Inverclyde.

There will be a £50 gift voucher for the outright winner of the competition.

Entries should be sent to the Ardgowan Hospice Access Centre, 4 Ardgowan Street, Greenock, PA16 8LE.

The entry deadline is Thursday June 13.