Dave and Dean dress up to help Doncaster & Bassetlaw Hospitals Trust appeal

Dave Evans wanted to cheer up residents of the village of Edlington during lockdown and decided to dress up while delivering mail wearing different costumes every day, ranging from Elsa from Frozen to Captain America and Buzz Lightyear.

At the same time, fellow Edlington resident, Dean Ashbridge, was also thinking of ways to lift the spirits of local residents and being a big fan of the character Deadpool went for walks around the village in his costume.

Residents were so pleased to see him he started posting on Facebook daily what street he would appear on that evening and even expanded his walks to nearby Warmsworth.

He also read stories live on Facebook to entertain local children.

When lockdown started to ease Dean and Dave arranged a joint fundraising event with Dean dressing up as Deadpool and Dave as Cruella De Vil and they walked through the village collecting £512 for the trust’s rainbow garden appeal.

The appeal was launched in June of this year to raise money to create two gardens, one at Doncaster Royal Infirmary and one at Bassetlaw Hospital, in memory of those lost to Covid-19, including staff members Kevin Smith and Dr Medhat Atalla.

Dean and Dave said “We wanted to do something to support our local community during the challenging weeks of lockdown and hopefully make people smile and let them know we’re all in this together.

"We also wanted to raise money for our local hospitals to say thank you for all they have done.”

Paul Haslam, consultant orthopaedic surgeon and friend of both Kevin Smith and Dr Atalla, said: “Thank you so much to Dave and Dean and the residents of Edlington for their generous donation to our appeal.

"The community spirit and support has been extraordinary over the last few challenging months and we hope that beyond Covid-19, we can continue to count on this invaluable support.”

For more details on the rainbow gardens appeal, click here.