DOZENS of children’s rainbow drawings are bringing a splash of colour to Brookwood village in a bid to boost the morale of locals during the coronavirus crisis.

Following up on an email to villagers from local resident, Trudi Fletcher, last weekend, the village has created its own Rainbow Trail. The idea is part of a movement sweeping the UK since schools were closed and families told to stay at home to stop the spread of the virus, but Trudi was only made aware of it when she happened to see a rainbow picture in a window of one of the houses as she was walking her dog.

“It really cheered me up and as there’s a real community spirit about the village I wondered how I could get that rainbow to the rest of the village as the house had been in a little cul de sac,” said Trudi.

She got to work on the local social media platform and offered to take the lead on the idea and within five days she had received over 50 rainbow pictures and messages, including a couple from local adults, saying, “Be happy – it will pass”.

She has laminated them all and put them on lamp posts along Connaught Road.

“The response has been amazing,” she said. “It’s really about the joy that it’s bringing to a lot of people and that’s what matters most.”

She received a message from someone who works on the night shift at Sainsbury’s in Knaphill and saw the pictures on the walk home.

Trudi was moved to tears by the message, which said: “I found myself taking the time to look at each one I saw on my journey home which helped make my journey home more pleasurable. My job has become a lot harder and stressful in recent times due to the virus,

“These pictures truly raised my spirit, seeing all the wonderful work the children had made and helped me to remember why I am still doing my job instead of just staying at home with my family in these hard times.”

For the full story get the 2 April edition of the News & Mail