Two brothers from New Malden have been making and selling loom bands for Great Ormond Street Hospital, writes Lucy Ford.

Football-mad Billy May, nine, and brother Sonny, seven, have joined the loom band craze, buying kits to make coloured elastic bracelets in the colours of their favourite teams.

The Corpus Christi Primary School pupils decided to sell loom bands, and give all the profits they made to Great Ormond Street Hospital.

Billy said: “We enjoy making loom bands a lot, so we thought ‘Why not do it for charity?’ “We sat with our friends and made them.

“We made Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool and West Ham bands.

“We also made animals – snakes and pandas.”

Sonny said: “I made all different types of bands – fish tails, waterfalls and normal loom bands.

“We choose to give the money to Great Ormond Street because the children aren’t well.”

The 160-year-old hospital looks after children with serious illnesses.

Its supporters have included Charles Dickens, Queen Victoria and Diana, Princess of Wales.

Author JM Barrie donated the rights of Peter Pan to the hospital in 1929.

First invented in 2011 by US entrepreneur Cheong Choon Ng, the colourful elastic loom bands are woven together to create bracelets and other jewellery.

Kate Middleton and Miley Cyrus are just two celebrities spotted wearing the bracelets.

It was the brothers’ own idea to make and sell the bands.

They drafted in friends to help, and grandfather Peter May, 68, took them to Covent Garden to sell their bands.

Their sales brought in a total of £350.

Proud mum Bonnie May, 36, said: “They went to work with their grandad, a wholesale greengrocer in Covent Garden. They love going to work with him.

“They set up a stall and made an advertisement to sell the bands.

“They are very sensitive and aware that children are not always very well.”