PICTURE GALLERY: Hundreds turn out to see Warwick Davis in Corby

Davis, whose TV and film credits include Willow, Star Wars and the Harry Pottter films as well as the TV sitcom Life’s Too Short, was surrounded by fans at the Tesco Extra store in Corby on Saturday.

He was at the store to raise awareness of the Little People UK (LPUK) charity which he co-founded with his wife Samantha and a group of individuals with the same goals in helping those with dwarfism.

The event, which included bag-packing for customers, raised £811 for the charity, although this was further boosted with a £200 donation after Warwick signed some photos for another charity.

Dawn Hinton, committee member of LPUK, said: “It was brilliant, it was crazy.

“They were queuing right down the middle of Tesco, it was really good.

“We had about 500 or so people there.”

Dawn, who used to work at the Corby store, held an awareness event there in October for Dwarfism Awareness Month and she is hoping to do something similar this year.

She said Saturday’s event was another opportunity to promote the charity’s work.

She said: “My husband has known Warwick and his wife for some years now and four years ago they did an information event at Pen Green.

“That’s how I got to know them and from then on, I have volunteered and in August last year I became a member of the committee.”

Fundraising is part of Dawn’s role so she approached her former workplace to see if they could help out at the weekend.

Dawn said: “I can’t thank Steve from the Tesco store and his team enough, they were absolutely amazing.

“They really looked after us and looked after Warwick and his family.”

She added: “We have got quite a few families in this area with someone who has a form of dwarfism and this is about finding them and letting them know we are here.

“We are quite a small charity, but we are growing.

“Saturday was just overwhelming.

“Warwick was very patient, he was brilliant.

“There were quite a few kids there for Harry Potter and quite a few for the Millionaire Boy by David Walliams.”

Davis has helped to remove the negative stigma surrounding dwarfism after becoming an international success starring in films and television series.

Little People UK aims to offer friendship and support to people with dwarfism and to help build a positive future for them.

For more information about the charity, go to www.littlepeopleuk.org.