A 10-year-old has been spreading festive cheer at St George's Hospital, Tooting.

Isabella Lorusso was joined by her younger brother Alessandro as they visited the playroom in the paediatric ward in the hospital on Saturday (December 8).

Isabella was born in St George's and her mum is a nurse at the hospital. She play Born This Way by Lady Gaga on the keyboard while singing along, before playing Christmas carols on the clarinet. Some of the children joined in by playing percussion instruments from the playroom.

Isabella also wrote too and met with the managers of her local Sainsbury’s, Costco and Pret A Manger to explain that she would be visiting the children’s wards at St George’s and asked if they would be able to help her by donating some small gifts she could hand out.

The companies were so touched by Isabella’s heartfelt desire to spread festive cheer that they gave her a selection of sweets for the children and mince pies for their parents and staff.

Alessandro joined in by donating some of his toys to the playroom.

This isn’t Isabella’s first act of kindness though – when she turned nine in April 2017, she decided to donate all her birthday presents to the children staying in our paediatric wards at St George’s instead of having a party.

Isabella said: “I love music, so being able to perform in the children’s playroom was really nice – I’d love to play in the elderly wards next. I taught myself to play Born This Way in a day by watching YouTube tutorials so I loved performing that song, as well as the Christmas carols.”

Isabella’s mum, Edi Lorusso, is a Thrombosis Clinical Nurse Specialist at St George’s. She said: “The message that the song gives about being who you are is really powerful, particularly now when social media can play a big role in young people’s lives in a negative way – I’m so proud of her spreading a positive message through her music.

"Isabella is such a thoughtful girl, she’s always wanting to help other people and do what she can to make others happy. Alessandro is the same, so he collected some of his toys together to donate to the children at St George’s too.”