Locals create a marvel by dressing up as superheroes outside schools bringing positivity to children throughout lockdown.
During the beginning of the coronavirus lockdown, Tom Bingley and his sister decided to dress up as superheroes and visit local children of their town to spread joy during the challenging times.
Tom said, “During the full lockdown myself and my sister decided we’d use our one hour a day exercise to spread some joy to the children in our hometown of Melton Mowbray.
“When it was announced that some children wouldn’t return to schools, we had the idea of photographing the heroes outside the schools and then sending the photos to them via social media so that they could pass them on to their pupils. We also used my company page to reach as many people as possible.”
“The reaction was incredible, there were a great deal of kind comments and smiles on children’s faces.”
But it didn’t end there, Tom decided that they needed to spread positivity further afield, to the children of neighbouring towns.
“As the world began to open up more, we took this idea to the areas of our partner primary schools and school holiday clubs to bring some joy to those children. This included Compton Acres, West Bridgford, Gedling and Carlton,” said Tom
“My girlfriend got on board with this and from a social distance, began to spread the word on social media by posting photos and playing the ‘Avengers’ music to let people know we were coming.
“Again, the reaction from the children was amazing. Children who were shielding got to meet Iron Man, Spiderman and Captain America!”
As the lockdown is still easing, some children are yet to return to school. This means there’s no time to hang-up their capes, the Avengers’ will continue making visits to schools. Next up is Mapperley, another area of Carlton, Wilford and Netherfield, plus more visits are still being planned!
Tom continued, “The community has really come together, we put out a post in a local Facebook Group and asked for suggestions of which streets would like a visit, then we plan the route. The posts get up to 500 comments each time and the Mapperley People Facebook page have even changed their cover photo to Spiderman!”
Schools visited so far include: St Edmund Campion West Bridgford visited by Captain America, Porchester Junior School in Carlton visited by Spiderman, Abbey Road Primary School in West Bridgford visited by Captain America, Greythorn Primary School in West Bridgford visited by Iron Man, St Patrick’s Catholic Voluntary Academy in Wilford visited by Spiderman, Sacred Heart Catholic Voluntary Academy in Carlton visited by Spiderman, Parkdale Primary School in Carlton visited by Spiderman, and Westdale Junior School in Mapperley visited by Spiderman.
