St Albans Rainbow Trails has raised more than £500 for a family support charity with its ‘Hope the Hippo’ competition.
The Rainbow Trails was set up as the coronavirus lockdown began as a way of bringing positivity and hope to the community by displaying rainbows in windows – with a new theme each week – for passersby and key workers to enjoy.
Last week, volunteers were asked to display coloured-in pictures of Home-Start Herts’ mascot, Hope the Hippo. Anyone who spotted Hope in windows around St Albans was invited to enter into a prize draw, and donate to the Home-Start cause.
Organiser Preet Cox told the Herts Ad: “It was a really great turn out with the community supporting the initiative. There were lots of people that were involved.
“This is another example of what can be achieved when the community comes together. It’s so nice to see that there’s positivity coming through during the pandemic.
“Community is the strength of the St Albans Rainbow Trails group. We’ve got more people willing to get involved with initiatives, it’s because of them and the help they gave that we were able to make this happen and I say a massive thank you to them.
“It’s been a really difficult time for charities and I wanted to help support them. Home-Start Herts is a charity that believes that every parent should have the support they need to provide their children with the best start in life.”
Home-Start Herts provides volunteer-led services to support families through difficult situations. Services include one-to-one and group support and perinatal depression support.
Strategic manager for the charity, Suzy Moody, said: “Home-Start Herts were delighted to be chosen by Preet as the benefiting charity of her rainbow trail project. It was a really fun campaign, based around finding and colouring in pictures of our mascot, Hope the Hippo.
“We are really grateful to Preet, her enthusiastic team of volunteers, and the St Albans community for raising this money which will help us to support a family with young children who may be isolated and struggling to cope.”
The winners of the Hope the Hippo competition were Maisie Murphy, Alba and Eleni, Carey Boswell, Gian and Banni Chohan and Lyla and Sam, who each were awarded prizes donated by local businesses.
Find St Albans Rainbow Trails on Facebook, or for more information on Home-Start go to home-startherts.org.uk.
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