SURPRISED shoppers were in for a shock as a live mannequin posed in a shop window to raise money for a charity campaign.

Mary Bolton, 59, struck a pose in the window of ladies’ outfitters Russell Smith in Felixstowe to support East Anglia’s Children’s Hospices (EACH) Treehouse appeal, which has now reached �1,264,400.

“I quite enjoyed it,” she said. “I really made some people jump.”

Mrs Bolton, who lives in Felixstowe, decided to pull the stunt to help raise �3million for a new children’s hospice being built off Bixley Road in Ipswich.

The EADT is supporting the fundraising campaign.

Sitting absolutely still in the store front for around four hours on Saturday, Mrs Bolton enjoyed causing a stir when she would wink or wave at passers-by to raise �275 on the day.

“It was so fun to see people’s reactions as they looked through the window,” she said. “The children were lovely.

“They had such broad smiles and were waving and pointing at me.”

The quirky challenge was the second time Mrs Bolton had supported a good cause, having appeared in a shop window five years ago for a different charity.

But as the new six-bedroom hospice for life-threatened youngsters begins to take shape, Mrs Bolton decided to support the vital campaign ahead of her 60th birthday in November.

“To have a child with a life-threatening illness must be so hard,” she said.

“I wanted to do what I could.”