CORONOVIRUS may be too big a job for Ryder and his team of pups to save the day but Paw Patrol and Peppa Pig certainly brought some cheer to Blairhall.

After finding themselves at a loose end due to the lockdown, Kieran Duncan and father-in-law Rab Hamill decided to dress up as the kids TV favourites and parade through the village and leave sweets out for youngsters.

Kieran, 28, smiled: “It was meant to be for the kids but everyone was at their windows, including a lot of elderly people, and they were all waving.

“It was like the gala parade except there was no-one on the street apart from us!

“Some of the kids had dressed up too and the response was just brilliant.

“It cost us £60 but to see the looks on everyone’s faces was priceless. We’ve had so many thank-yous but I’ve also had some asking if I can do the same in Kincardine and Oakley!

“It was just a one-off!”

The dad of Keeva, two, and six-months-old Kolton said the idea was to brighten up Blairhall’s day – although they needed a boost too.

He said: “I run Fife Toy Store and Mascot Hire but we’re obviously not doing it just now.

“I also started my own company, Busybee Recovery, but my truck got stolen from our driveway after just two weeks so I’m off the road.

“Rab runs the Village Bar in Blairhall, which is shut, and we’re all under the same roof just now so we’re all isolating together.

“The gala got cancelled too and coming down the road the other night, we saw lots of kids looking fed up and bored.

“We wondered if we could do something, a bit of light relief and a laugh, to brighten up their day, and decided to dress up as mascots and give out sweeties.”

It was well planned. They posted the idea on Facebook first, asking villagers if they thought it’d be OK, and after getting more than 100 positive responses, they bought 12 boxes of sweets from the cash and carry.

Gloves, aprons and face masks were donned – they even videoed the process to reassure everyone – as the goodies were separated into 100 bags.

They posted their route through the village and set off at 2pm on Thursday, Kieran dressed as Marshall from Paw Patrol and Rab, 56, becoming Peppa Pig.

His partner, Melanie, and Rab’s wife, Alana, followed in the car, with Disney tunes blasting out from a boombox and deliveries left on doorsteps.

Kieran said: “We did half the village and realised we had run out of sweets. Luckily, my mum (Alayna Dunsmore), runs Tiptoe teepee tents and had some sweets we could have.

“Overall, we gave out 197 bags of sweets to kids, double what we thought, but it was brilliant.

“There was a real buzz in the village and it carried through to 8pm with everyone in great spirits and out clapping for the NHS.”

And he continued: “The response was overwhelming and the messages of support we’ve had have been amazing.

“I’m out of work as I’m waiting for the insurance company, my father-in-law had to shut the pub so it was something we could do to try and cheer everyone up and it was all for the village.

“The pub gets a lot of support so this was a way of giving something back.”

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