With the second lock down about to start tomorrow , I thought I would let you al know what I got up to in the first one !!

At the very start I really struggled , the seriousness, the restrictions on family the uncertainty… I just wanted to fix the problem !! I am a fixer I wanted to fix it and the frustration of not being able to help or do anything other then stay home didn’t sit well with me !

It was on one of my 2km walks with my 2 year old daughter I came up with a crazy idea. My only super power is my creativity so if I could somehow use this to make my neighbourhood smile just once a day on their walks wouldn’t that be something. This is when Positive pegs was created.

Every morning for the rest of lock down hail rain or shine I got up early and hid in the hedge alone the walk loop a new little character , a hand-painted dolly peg with a  personality for people to stumble upon. For about a week I scattered them around the loop .. then when there was some chat about what it was all about I left little tags directing them to the anonymous instagram and facebook pages where daily I would post a little clue to what and where todays peg would be and a little positive message.

It grew wings !! Families got behind it , old and young included it on their daily routines , competitions started to see who could find them first ! and daily when i went out with my daughter for a walk I got to see the result of my little mission families smiling ! something positive  for everyone to talk about .

We had quite the array of pegs to name but a few ! and then I would get requests which really put it up to me !! we had All the Disney Characters ! Wheres Wally , Super hero’s , football players , Wizard of Oz , Bono , Fireman sam , Local postman and milkman , Paw Patrol ! ,sponge bob , Star wars , The Simpsons , We even had a Positive peg wedding and communion !

I created Positive pegs but the community made it ! Everyone got behind it and made it work . Truthfully i didn’t expect it to go on for over 3 months but I did it ! I was supposed to be getting my new website up and running but sure !! .. and in the end there was a perfect ending I made an Art piece with the most popular pegs . I came out of hiding and told everyone who I was by making a peg of myself ! some had guessed , I had been spotted diving into the odd hedge !! .. Once my identity was out I then set up a Fundraiser to win the Art piece in aid of an amazing local charity St Hildas Respite house which is on the very road I started the pegs on in the first place.

The fantastic Community got behind it and we raised over €5000 for St. Hildas which was just the icing on the cake .. and the Cherry was the winner of the Art piece donated it to the local school so the children who spent many hours searching for the pegs get to see them for years to come.

So in short when asked what did you do for lockdown I reply I painted pegs daily  and made people smile !

 

 

If you would like to see all the pegs links are Instagram @positivepegscoosan and Facebook @positivepegs or hashtag Positivepegs