Mum’s selfless act of honour
ACASH-STRAPPED young mum handed in hundreds of pounds someone had left behind in a Southport cash machine.
Jess Anderson, 22, from Southport, found the forgotten money in a dispenser in Bispham Road in High Park as she checked to see if her mum had transferred some money to help her out.
Mum-of-two Jess, who is six months pregnant, admitted that money was tight for her family.
But despite her own money troubles, she said she never even considered keeping the cash for herself and handed it in straight away.
She said: “I didn’t want my son looking at me thinking that’s the right thing to do – I’m not that kind of person.
“If it was mine I don’t think anyone else would hand my money back, but what if it’s an old lady or old man, or someone who’s struggling like me?”
Jess’s partner, Sonny, is looking for work while she looks after their children Harrison, two, and Freya, one.
She said the money could have made a “massive difference” to them.
Expecting her third child, Jess admitted that she worried that people look at her and think she was having the children for the benefit money but said that no matter what, she always put her children first.
Her mum Dianne Anderson, who contacted the Visiter to tell us about her daughter’s kind act, said she was incredibly proud of her for doing the right thing and handing the money in.
People have been stopping Jess to praise her for her selfless actions, but Dianne said that the money could have made a big difference to her daughter.
Dianne said: “She said to me, ‘People are saying ‘well done Jess’ while I’m sat here with my Pot Noodle!’
“I just said if she’d kept the money she could have had a couple of hundred Pot Noodles!”
Jess didn’t count the money before handing it in, but her mum said that it was “quite a wad“and could have been a couple of hundred pounds.
Dianne added: “It’s just nice to know there’s still kind and honest people in the world.
“What’s amazing is she could have run off with it.
“Not all young, unemployed and brought up by a single mum people, grow up without morals.”