Portsmouth overrun with naughty Elves

Every night when children go to bed a toy elf gets up to mischief only for the chaos to be found by excited youngsters the next morning.

One North End mum-of-two has taken Elf on the Shelf adventures to a whole new level - even using it as a way to raise money for charity.

Karah Mew, 32, has been creatively looking after her elf since 2013 and said her children love to wake up and race around the house looking for their scout elf - called Elf or Elfie - each morning.

Karah most recently allowed the elf to cut off 40cm of her hair as part of the tradition whilst her children Phebe eight and Toby six were sleeping. The hair was donated to The Little Princess Trust who will use it to create wigs for young boys and girls who have lost their hair due to cancer treatment and other illnesses.

When Karah was asked about her ‘elf adventures’ she simply replied: ‘At times I have a huge lump in my throat when my two children talk to him with such love and affection.’

The creative mother has many activities planned leading up to Christmas Day and all the family enjoy participating in this imaginative role play with their toy elf.

Jim Mew, Karah’s husband isn’t as keen, especially when he had to wear clothes the elf had made him into work.

The elves adventures in the Mew household for the last three years have been keeping Facebook followers engaged.

Karah said she was shocked so many people liked to follow our elf antics.

‘They really really do love him. I want that love to last forever. Childhood is a magical thing and we all need to hold onto that and in the words of elf: ‘If I am not on the mantelpiece, I’ll be in your hearts.’

A spokeswoman for The Little Princess Trust said: ‘‘We are absolutely thrilled that Karah has chosen to support the Little

Princess Trust! We are very grateful to Santa’s elf for cutting Karah’s hair and we have been assured that the elf did ask permission first!

‘We can use Karah’s donated locks to make real hair wigs for children who have lost their own hair. A real hair wig can transform the life of a sick child.

‘Thank you Karah and thank you to all of your supporters!’

The Portsmouth News asked if there were any families in Portsmouth involved in the Elf on the Shelf tradition and we had an overwhelming response with lots of photographs capturing their adventures with their elves.