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Ant & Dec surprise young girl who created cemetery 'postbox to heaven' with trip to Florida

6 March 2023, 13:29 | Updated: 6 March 2023, 13:57

Young girl surprised on Saturday Night Takeaway over postbox to Heaven idea

By Alice Dear

Ant & Dec surprised Matilda Handy with a trip to Florida to watch the final of Saturday Night Takeaway after her creative idea helped others deal with their grief.

Ant and Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway finale is taking place at Universal Studios in Florida, and Matilda Handy is one of the lucky people joining the presenting duo on the holiday of a lifetime.

Matilda was surprised with the trip after her idea to instal a 'postbox to heaven' at her local cemetery helped people with their grief after losing loved ones.

A white and gold postbox was placed at Gedling Crematorium in Nottinghamshire earlier this year, and now the postboxes are being rolled out to cemeteries across the UK.

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During Saturday Night Takeaway, Ant and Dec went to Matilda's home where they surprised her with a ticket to Florida.

Ant and Dec surprised Matilda with a trip to Florida for the final of Saturday Night Takeaway. Picture: ITV

Dec said: "Matilda, we know that when your nan sadly passed away you came up with the idea of putting a postbox to Heaven in your local crematorium, where anyone could send letters to their loved ones.

"Now your postboxes to Heaven are being rolled out across the UK. You, Matilda, have a heart of gold. And you're getting a place on the plane!"

Matilda looked ecstatic as she celebrated with her family.

Matilda was at home with her family when Ant and Dec surprised her with the trip. Picture: ITV

Earlier this year, Matilda spoke to ITV about the 'postbox to heaven' idea where she explained: “It was very nice because I'm very upset and it's just a very nice way to express my feelings and send a letter to them and to say how much I love them.”

Matilda had the idea to have a 'postbox to heaven' installed at her local cemetery after her nan passed away. Picture: ITV

Matilda's mum Leanne said on the postboxes being rolled out across the UK: "There's going to be around 40 Westerleigh sites in England, Scotland and Wales that will have them."

She went on: “We can walk through our local town and people will stop us and say how beautiful it is. Matilda's teacher told everyone how amazing it is. We're certainly proud of her, it’s helped her. If it can help her it can help a lot of other people."

“To think this little idea, to actually be in 36 crematoriums across the country and helping thousands of families, we just never even imagined it."