Ariana Grande has brought some Christmas cheer to hundreds of young hospital patients in Manchester.

• Read more: How Ariana Grande became a thoughtful and funny pop star who really matters

The pop star has surprised hundreds of children at Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital and Manchester Royal Infirmary (MRI) with an Amazon voucher each worth £100.

Speaking to the Manchester Evening News, the father of one of the patents said his daughter was “absolutely delighted” with the kind gesture, describing the ‘7 Rings’ singer as “a wonderful human being”.

“She said, ‘look dad, I’ve got a £100 voucher from Ariana Grande’,” he continued. “It was in a little personalised box with no message on it and no note to say who it’s from. It’s such a lovely gesture and there’s no publicity around it so you know it’s genuine.

“It’s brought a lot of joy after everything that’s gone in with the pandemic this year. It’s been a tough year with my daughter being in hospital. The staff there are great and so hard working.”

Grande’s affiliation with Manchester began after a terror attack ended her concert in the city in 2017. The day after the attack she tweeted: “Broken. from the bottom of my heart, i am so so sorry. i don’t have words.”

A fortnight later she returned to Manchester to visit survivors in hospital as well as the families who had lost loved ones in the attack.

Grande then staged the One Love benefit concert at Old Trafford cricket ground, which raised over £2 million for the families who were affected by the attack.

Earlier this year, the pop star shared a message of solidarity to her fans ahead of the third anniversary of the Manchester bombing.

“Not a day goes by that this doesn’t affect you and all of us still,” Grande wrote on Instagram. “I will be thinking of you all week and weekend.”