Residents of Kirkby Stephen received a surprise visit from the flower fairies on Wednesday when they woke to discover gifts of hand-crafted bouquets deposited around the town. The thoughtful donors were members of Nateby and Wharton Women’s Institute, Gardeners of Eden and Upper Eden u3a who joined forces to mark World Loneliness Week by saying it with flowers. Twenty bunches of flowers were created on Tuesday and two of the organisers, Anne Cradock and Val Wright, set off early on Wednesday morning to place them onbenches. Anne, who is president of Nateby and Wharton WI said: “We were the flower fairies and we drove round from 7.30am so people would find the bouquets when they ventured out. “We like to do something to cheer people up who might be feeling lonely. “It all started during Covid when we designed a bench walk map during lockdown.” People donated the flowers, some from their gardens, and Gregson’s Spar contributed additional bunches. Along with the floral arrangement and a gift tag explaining the significance of the date, a pretty heart specially made by members in felt, wool, quilt or wood, was attached to each bouquet so recipients had a keepsake when the flowers die. Around eight people were involved in the project, and the organisers said they were always heartened by the feedback they received. “People are genuinely enchanted; they think it is wonderful,” said Anne who devised the idea three years ago. “They tell us that they had been having a bad week and that the flowers were a lovely surprise and had really made their day.“On another occasion last year, a man asked if he could keep a bunch as he said he had never received flowers before — that was lovely.” “We often get photos of the flowers back in people’s homes. People are always grateful and we enjoy it.”