WOODLEY resident Martin Broome is doing his best to keep spirits high in the community with his array of fancy dress costumes on display every Sunday.
As an experienced runner, Martin had the idea to use his daily exercise as an opportunity to get the community together and raise spirits by wearing a range of different fancy dress outfits.
“I’ve always done a fancy dress thing, every pre-Christmas each year for the last few years I’ve gone out in an elf outfit which always got a positive response with people waving and beeping in cars,” said Martin.
“I decided one Sunday morning to go out with the elf outfit on because I thought it might cheer a few people up and it got a positive response again.”
After getting a positive response from his local community in Woodley, Martin upgraded his fancy dress collection to add some variety to his weekly runs.
“I then went online and bought three more costumes,” continued Martin.
“I got a dinosaur, a clown and a hot-dog. I’ve been alternating and going out on Sundays trying to cheer people up. It also gives me a lot of satisfaction.
“To be honest, I thought it’d be the kids who were out the most but I actually tend to get more reaction from the adults even though plenty of kids are still enjoying it.
“But it’s great to put smiles on people’s faces.
“I’ve done six marathons and a lot of fundraisers. Initially I was only going to do it once but because of the positive response, I thought I’d carry on doing it as I love going out running anyway and it seems to be working.
“The clown one seems to get the best response so far.
“My friend Tim came out in a stormtrooper outfit. We kept on opposite sides of the roads to comply with social distancing.
”It’s nice to see people getting joy and happiness in these times.”
