A pair of young brothers from the coast have sent 999 thank you letters to ambulance stations across the UK.

Toby and Tommy Hutchinson, aged three and five, began their challenge last November with their local station in Gorleston, not stopping until they had finished by the end of the year.

The boys have now started writing to other key workers including NHS staff and teachers by sending posters with the message, 'Not all heroes wear capes'.

%image(14459373, type="article-full", alt="Tommy Hutchinson, from Gorleston, who, along with his brother Toby, has sent more than 1,000 thank you letters to NHS staff and other key workers during the pandemic.")

The family's connection with ambulances began in 2018 when Toby was taken to hospital five times due to seizures, later resulting in a diagnosis of epilepsy.

Since then, the brothers have shown their appreciation to the service by filling goody bags with biscuits, tea bags, hot chocolate and coffee sachets, and leaving them on the door handles of ambulances.

%image(14459375, type="article-full", alt="Toby Hutchinson, from Gorleston, who, along with his brother Tommy, has sent more than 1,000 thank you letters to NHS staff and other key workers during the pandemic.")

When social distancing measures began, they switched to sending the treats by post.

The boys have also been leaving paintings of clay and rock ambulances around their home town for people to find - which they call "Norfolk Nee Nors".

%image(14459376, type="article-full", alt="One of the "Norfolk Nee Nors" left by brothers Toby and Tommy Hutchinson around their home in Gorleston.")

Those who find the miniatures are invited to either keep them or hide them again, in the hope they will travel across the country.

They are helped by their mother Lisa, siblings Alex, Adam, Jamie and Tia, and father Richard Hutchinson, a car mechanic.

Tia, 16, began a charity of her own 10 years ago, when she was just six years old.

Tia's Treasures launched in 2011, selling handmade jewellery and trinkets to raise thousands of pounds for child cancer charity CLIC Sargent and the Childhood Eye Cancer Trust.

The fundraising began after one of Tia's close friends Demi lost her sight to retinoblastoma, a tumor behind the eyes.

She continues to raise money to this day.

%image(14459377, type="article-full", alt="Undated handout photo of thank you letters created by brothers Toby and Tommy Hutchinson, from Gorleston, which they sent to NHS staff and other key workers during the pandemic.")

Mrs Hutchinson said her children hope their "kindness is contagious" and that more people will be inspired to participate in random acts of kindness due to their actions.

She added that Tommy and Toby's challenge has been made possible by donations of stamps, envelopes and other items by members of the Facebook group Hit The Ambulance Gamers.

%image(14459379, type="article-full", alt="Toby Hutchinson, from Gorleston, who, along with his brother Tommy, has sent more than 1,000 thank you letters to NHS staff and other key workers during the pandemic.")

The group, which was created before the pandemic, encourages people to undertake "hits" on key workers - which in this case means a random act of kindness, such as leaving gifts and cards on emergency vehicles.