A child’s artistic flair paves the way for summer walking fun

A young girl gets people walking in Hartlepool by painting rocks for them to find and hide.
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Five-year-old Raegan (Roo) Brunskill designs, paints and hides rocks when she goes out walking.

These decorated rocks have been found all over Hartlepool and the North-East. Some have even found their way to Spain and Turkey.

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Nicolle, who is a 32-year-old civil servant from Middlesbrough, said: “During lockdown, when we were going for walks, we decided to leave some around the

Five-year-old Raegan (Roo) Brunskill, painting rocks in her painting shed in Middlesbrough in her grandparents' garden.Five-year-old Raegan (Roo) Brunskill, painting rocks in her painting shed in Middlesbrough in her grandparents' garden.
Five-year-old Raegan (Roo) Brunskill, painting rocks in her painting shed in Middlesbrough in her grandparents' garden.

area to cheer people up.

"I said it would be lovely to see where they end up so I wrote on the back of them and made a Facebook page so people could post their photos.”

Since the page started in 2020, Roos Rocks has had people walking all over the country.

Roos mum, Nicolle Hayne, first started painting rocks in 2018 to help with her anxiety.

Five-year-old Raegan (Roo) Brunskill, painting rocks in her painting shed in Middlesbrough in her grandparents' garden.Five-year-old Raegan (Roo) Brunskill, painting rocks in her painting shed in Middlesbrough in her grandparents' garden.
Five-year-old Raegan (Roo) Brunskill, painting rocks in her painting shed in Middlesbrough in her grandparents' garden.
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When Roo got older, she decided to paint as well, and in July 2020 hid her first rock.

Roo picks her own paints and brushes and designs each rock in her grandparents’ shed in Middlesbrough.

“It was my dad’s shed,” said Nicolle, “but Roo and her rocks took over it.

"Grandad had no say in the matter.”

Roos’ Nana and Grandad have been supportive of her since the start, keeping rocks in their car to hide whenever they go on walks.

Nicolle encourages anyone who finds one of Roo’s rocks to take a picture, post it on the Facebook group and hide it for someone else to find.

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