Just a visit from your friendly neighbourhood window cleaner
Half-term was brightened up thanks to a kind-hearted businessman who wears a Spider-man costume for his rounds •
A FAMILIAR face has been spotted on the streets of Shinfield, bringing joy to children in the borough and beyond.
Chris Smalley-Ward, owner of CSW Window Cleaning, has donned a new uniform in a bid to brighten up his customers’ lockdown.
For the past three weeks, he has been heading out on jobs dressed as Spider-Man.
“I’m a massive Marvel fan,” Mr SmalleyWard said. “Four or five years ago, my sisterin-law asked me if I would dress up as him for my niece’s fifth birthday party and that was the last time the costume came out.
“My wife then suggested I dress up when cleaning people’s windows and the idea just blew up.”
The cleaner said while some children take a bit of time to warm up to him, seeing SpiderMan definitely cheers them up.
“I thought dressing up could give homeschoolers a bit of a break,” he continued. “I think a lot of parents just want their kids to have a bit of excitement.”
And it seems the costume doesn’t just entertain the youngsters.
“I think some parents enjoy it as much as their children do because they get to go away for half-an-hour and have a coffee and a sit down,” Mr Smalley-Ward added.
The cleaner has since received a lot of positive reviews which he said have made it all worthwhile.
One customer said: “Not only are our windows sparkly clean now, the show put on for the kids was a massive highlight and something to brighten our day during lockdown.”
Looking forward, Mr Smalley-Ward said Spider-Man will continue to grace the streets of Wokingham for the foreseeable future, so it seems the borough will be in safe hands for a little while longer.