Kelly Williams hands out 13 sunshine teddies at benches in Devon

Kelly Williams, of Wilsden, who spearheads the Spread a Little Sunshine campaign, which aims to support and help people during the coronavirus pandemic, has been lifting their spirits with daily updates on social media since March.

She has taken a break and travelled down to Devon and Cornwall to holiday with her parents, who are in her support bubble, and has spread here happiness down in the South West.

Kelly and her parents during their break

A group of 13 Sunshine Teddy Bears have been left on happy benches around Devon and Cornwall, where people are encouraged to stop and have a socially distanced chat with one another to combat loneliness and isolation.

The bears have embarked on their sunshine missions to spread happiness, kindness and love. It is hoped the bears will be collected by people who see them at the bench, with people taking a picture and putting them on social media and passing the bears on.

The collection of sunshine teddy bears

Miss Williams said: "I hope the teddy bears can spread some sunshine around the world.

"The teddy bears could end up all over the world.

"People can then take them on their holidays. I hope this will help spread a bit of kindness. I want a rainbow of hope to spread across the world.

"The longer the pandemic goes on, the more difficult it will become for people and their mental health. We are going to get people struggling with their mental health.

"People are getting scared at the moment. People need to be nice to each other at the moment.

I want to spread some sunshine and spread some hope

"I would encourage people to have a happy bench in their communities. I would encourage people to leave happiness teddies. Children really enjoy this.

Miss Williams says she is also looking to set up a treasure hunt-style search for 10 benches around different areas in the country and plans to set one up in Bradford in the future.

She has run a series smile-raising events on social media since lockdown started.

She organised a 'Festival of Happiness' earlier this year to spread a little joy across the district.

'HappyU@Home' featured a different act every 15 minutes including storytelling, music and Salsa dancing. Dean Barton from Spirit of Smokey.

Another project is 'Somewhere Over The Rainbow' Sing a long - Live at 7.25pm every night on the Spread A Little Sunshine page. This aims to bring people together to give a boost to everyone affected the lockdown.