CHEESE-loving inventor Wallace and his canine sidekick Gromit made friends with five-year-old Sonia-Mae Peacock, centre, when they visited Oxford Children’s Hospital yesterday.

The famous animated characters called in during a tour of nine cities to promote next month’s fundraising Wrong Trousers Day – named after one of their films – and handed over a cheque for £8,000 from last year’s event, which will be spent on an incubator for the hospital’s neonatal unit.

During Wrong Trousers Day on Friday, June 25, people in schools and workplaces will be encouraged to wear their pyjamas for the day, in exchange for £1, to raise money for the UK’s children’s hospitals and hospices. Organisers hope to top the £100,000 raised last year.

Marie Storey, of Wallace and Gromit’s Children’s Foundation, said: “We had the best reaction of the tour so far, with a huge group of Wallace and Gromit fans, and lots of cuddles. It was really lovely.”

Oxford Children’s Hospital fundraiser Penny Hambridge thanked the foundation for the grant, adding: “It makes a huge difference to what we’re able to provide for the children and their families.”

  • For full details of Wrong Trousers Day, call 0845 6001 924 or see wrongtrousersday.org