67 DAISIES

Here is my story:

Opposite lived the elderly lady Elizabeth, who would come outside to her door by herself on a Thursday evening clap for the NHS. I felt an emotional connection seeing this and would question how she must be feeling on her own.

There are, 67 households on our avenue, through using my imagination and thinking about how other people might be feeling, old, lonely, and in need of help.

I drew, cut-out, and hand-paint 67 daises, posting them to each household with a letter and card asking them to put them in their window to signify they are ok and connecting everyone together.

Ten’s of daises started to appear in windows, championing the message of connecting each other together.

The message was loud and clear that we were all connected, irrelevant of age and if we lived on our own, we were all together.

4 months later, those daises are still there, growing and building a better community for us all to live in. It has opened up new friendships with old and young which may have never happened before the pandemic of COVID-19.

Inspired by my film, 100's of permanent daisies are now painted on streets leading up to my school to keep children and parents safe when queuing.

Lockdown has pushed us in directions we may have not considered before, but it has proved to me how important kindness is and how empathy is a strong force that can change the world into a better place.

Saffron (Aged 10)