Rainbows of Hope appear in windows across the Diocese!

Starting in Italy, as part of the ‘Let’s all be Well’ movement which grew in response to the Covid-19 physical distancing rules, rainbows have spread across Europe and many of our schools and communities have taken this on.

Woodborough CE Primary School, near Marlborough even has a gallery of photos of pupils’ work. Michelle Ashby who works at the school and now has the nickname ‘Queen of the Rainbows of Hope’ said, “The idea began when I saw a few pictures of rainbows on the internet just after all schools closed. When I went into school on Monday to be with the children of key workers, we all got very enthusiastic about making our own rainbows to hang on the school fence (the school seems to be on a popular exercise route for the local community, including our own children being home schooled). The older children were very keen to include an uplifting message - some chose words from the hymn 'Be Bold, Be Strong’ which we sing in school’.

Michelle reported that the inspiration for extending the project to children who were learning from home came from seeing people from the school community and others from the wider community stopping to read the rainbows on the railings. The school even got extra rainbows dropped in through the letter box to add to the collection made by the children.

From there, teachers posted the activity to create rainbows as a home learning activity and from this, the school’s rainbow gallery on the website was born. Click here to see more rainbows on the website.

As Michelle noted: ‘In these times of isolation, the rainbows seem to have reached out and created a link of kindness and togetherness between people and communities. Isn't that a pot of gold!’

If you have rainbows in your school or community, please email your story to emma.waters@salisbury.anglican.org or Tweet them tagging @SDBE_Update