Whitworth's ray of sunshine

Five-year-old Leo Poulter, from Whitworth, spent lockdown spreading joy in his local community.

After breaking his arm in May, the team at Rochdale Infirmary made him a special rainbow cast because they loved his optimism and bravery.

Leo, who is registered blind, couldn’t continue to learn Braille or take part in his online dance lessons at Samba Dance so he took up a more sedate hobby while his arm healed - planting sunflowers.

Mum, Sam Poulter, commented: “Leo wanted to give the sunflowers as presents to make people smile, so with social distancing in mind, we put them on the wall outside our house and advertised them as free. He got such amazing feedback and within a couple of hours they were all gone!”.

After seeing how happy it made people, Leo spent the next few weeks planting a variety of plants and flowers for his community, including cornflowers and pansies.

The inspirational youngster also chalked a rainbow hopscotch and obstacle course outside his house. Sam added: “He spent most of his day watching people through the window and it made him laugh so much”.

After having his cast removed, Leo is now excited to be back dancing, while still growing plants for his neighbourhood.