Spidey’s now on worldwide web
LAST month, two friends started dressing up as Spiderman on their daily runs, to help spread joy to children in Stockport.
Working separately, Andrew Baldock and Jason Baird started visiting streets around the town to wave to children who have to stay at home because of the coronavirus pandemic.
The idea quickly proved to be incredibly popular with families, who were soon posting requests in their windows - and on social media - asking for Spiderman to visit their street.
Dad-of-two Jason says he understood how difficult it could be to keep youngsters entertained as the country entered lockdown.
And with his Reddishbased martial arts academy closed, except for online classes, his Spiderman runs offered another form of exercise, as well as a way to spread joy.
But the pair could never have imagined just how quickly the idea would snowball into something far, far bigger.
Now, just two weeks later, the story of the Stockport Spidermen has gone around the world.
Jason has been interviewed live on This Morning and Channel Five news, and been featured on news stations in Italy, the United States and Brazil.
And as word spread about what they were doing, a whole cast of other characters were inspired to join them.
Now, around 50 people in Greater Manchester that Jason knows of, are doing their daily exercise dressed as everything from Batman, to Minions, to Cinderella, to help keep youngsters entertained.
Jason, who just spent his Easter Sunday delivering Easter eggs to Stepping Hill Hospital with the Knutsford and
Bramhall branches of the Co-op said: “It’s gone really, really crazy.
“On my first run, someone took a photo of me, and it all just snowballed from there.
“We set up a Facebook page and it got about 8,000 members in a few days, then I started getting messages from friends who had costumes and wanted to get involved.
“Then people I didn’t know wanted to get involved. It just keeps growing and growing.
“We’ve got Woody from Toy Story, several Spidermen and Batmen, Minions, Cinderellas, Snow Whites, a Hulk, Iron Man, The Flash, Superman, Wonder Woman.
“So many people are waiting for us to run through their road now.
“We want people to stay in character because it’s about the children’s imaginations, it has to be believable.”
Jason now has a WhatsApp group where he stays in touch with all the other characters.
He is however, urging anyone who is taking part to pay careful attention to social distancing rules making sure to keep at least two metres away from anyone else, and only going out once a day.
He added: “I want to make sure I can keep doing this throughout the lockdown, the last thing I want is for us to have to stop.
“We can’t have people breaking the rules, we’ve got to be very careful about that.
“People do need to follow the rules about social distancing and only being out for about an hour.”
Jason is determined to keep going not only for the sake of the kids, but also because the phenomenon is helping to raise huge sums of money for the NHS - around £30,000 so far.
Jason set up a fundraising page, with the initial aim of reaching £5,000.
The total was smashed however, thanks to an anonymous donation of £25,000, from someone who only identified themselves as ‘P Parker’ - Spiderman’s alias.
Jason added: “It was very cryptic, the message just said it had inspired him to dust off his Spidey suit.
“It’s been a whirlwind. We’re turning Great Britain into a comic book. With all the doom and gloom at the moment, it’s good to be able to do something for people’s wellbeing and keep them entertained.”
Find the fundraising page at https://www. justgiving.com/ fundraising/stockportspiderman.