“It’s just a lovely sense of community spirit” - Lightcliffe family’s scarecrow spreading some positivity

Philip Metcalfe and Jamie Cormack took over Mrs B’s Sandwich and Coffee Hut in September following the previous owner’s retirement but decided to close the shop due to the coronavirus outbreak and for the well being of their staff.

But after being humbled when one of their customers posted them what they would have normally spent in their sandwich shop, the couple set-up a fundraising page on Facebook for frontline NHS staff and volunteers.

The couple, along with the help of their five year old daughter Fleur, have also made a life size scarecrow and encouraged the community to send them photos next to it on their daily walks or stay home and make their own scarecrows for display.

Jamie said: “The money one of customers posted, it reduced us to tears. Nobody had to do that.

“And we just wanted to give something back.

“People have been posting maybe 20 different pictures on our Facebook page of their scarecrows, and sending loads of messages.

“It’s just a lovely sense of community spirit and everybody sticking together and wanting the same outcome for this to be over sooner rather than later so we can get back to some kind of normality.

“It’s a lovely feeling that you’re doing something and people are getting enjoyment out of it.

“There’s also a lot of negativity on social media, people are going a bit stir crazy, so to have something nice and positive out there I think is really, really great.”

To donate to the shop’s fundraising page, visit: https://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/fundraiser-display/showROFundraiserPage?userUrl=JamieCormack&pageUrl=1

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