PATIENTS and staff at a Birmingham children’s hospice enjoyed a tea-time surprise when two Oscar winners paid a visit today.

Wallace and Gromit dropped in to Acorns Children’s Hospice, in Selly Oak, pushing a teapot-shaped trolley laden with cakes and biscuits to promote their Great British Tea Party being held on December 5.

The popular plasticine duo are taking part in the new fund-raising initiative, organised by Wallace and Gromit’s Children’s Foundation, which aims to raise more than £100,000 for children’s hospices across the country, including Acorns.

People in Birmingham and the Midlands are being urged to take part by holding or taking part in a tea party to make a donation to the charity.

Acorns provides a network of care services through its three hospices in Birmingham, Walsall and Worcester, at a cost of £4,500 per site per day, which almost entirely comes from community donations.

Wallace and Gromit met patients including 15-year-old Muriyam Motola, of Aston, 13-year-old Hannah Wilson, of Solihull, and four-year-old Luke Tierney, from Coventry.

Chris Reed, the hospice’s head of care, said: “We want to thank Wallace and Gromit for taking the trouble of visiting and supporting the work Acorns does with life-limited children.

“Muriyam, Hannah and Luke were excited to meet them and said the visit made their day extra special.”