Kentish Gazette Canterbury & District
Cheerful message of rainbow posters
An army of rainbows are taking over windows in Kent in a bid to spread happiness and joy. Homes have donned the handmade creations coloured in by children so other youngsters can spot them while out stretching their legs amid the coronavirus outbreak.
Social media groups have been set up to show off what people are creating.
The group, Sheppey - Creating Rainbows, was launched by Pippa Meakins of Church Road, Eastchurch, Sheppey, to spread the message “there is light at the end of the dark”. Children are encouraged to paint, draw, model and craft their own rainbow creations and put them up in their windows. Then, when they’re going for a walk they can see crafts other children have made in a show of solidarity.
Miss Meakins said: “It’s something that’s been going on nationwide so I put a group together for people on the Island to follow. We’re trying to get people to use their home to get creative and think of brighter and happier things.
“It can keep people focussed on other things while they’re stuck indoors. There’s a good community spirit and I thought this will be something people would probably engage in.
“It’s a chance to be part of something bigger, something nationwide that has even spread to other countries. For me, it’s also a reminder to stay bright, to try to stay cheerful. Everyone’s in the same position.” Miss Meakins, a pharmacy technician, has applied to volunteer at Maidstone Hospital amid the outbreak.
‘We’re getting people to think of brighter and happier things’
Artist Richard Jeferies has also created a drawing for the page which youngsters can print off or trace and colour in. A mother and daughter spent the weekend creating a giant rainbow for walkers and drivers going past their home. Laura Farrelly dug out the craft supplies with 11-year-old daughter Sienna and erected the creation in the front of their home in View Road, Cliffe Woods, near Rochester.