BBC Breakfast: Coronavirus kindness: The people offering help as the virus spreads

Stories of people emptying supermarket shelves or arguing over packets of pasta can paint a bleak picture of the coronavirus outbreak. But there are also acts of kindness that have inspired thousands of others.

Beauty Banks, a charity that supplies essential toiletries to people in poverty, launched an emergency virus-related appeal on Sunday.

"Since just after noon yesterday we've raised £60,000 to pay for soap, hand sanitiser, washing powder and so on to help people who don't have the money to stockpile," said columnist Sali Hughes, who co-founded the campaign two years ago.

"Because we're an existing charity we work with suppliers already. We think we can get our hands on, certainly for the first drop, a lot of hand sanitiser for people who really, really need it."

Ms Hughes said because of the coronavirus outbreak people are more able to relate to the idea of not being able to get items they need.

"This is the first time lots of us have looked at shelves and thought actually I need something and I can't have it, and so they're better able to relate to people living in poverty who feel like that quite a lot of the time.

"I think it's really important in times of crisis, when people are doing something positive it does make you feel a little bit calmer and more in control. It certainly does me.

"I do think the act of giving just makes us feel better. It feels as though we're doing something, we're part of a collective effort."