Sonia slips into something fruity for daily excercise routine to raise Corby residents' spirits

A Corby mum has left people's sides splitting donning a banana costume as a new way to keep her neighbours entertained during the coronavirus lockdown.

Sonia Mathieson, a Slimming World consultant, has been taking her dog Brandy on their daily walk around Corby's Lloyds estate but today she slipped into her banana costume to entertain the residents.

She said: "I put it on because I wanted to cheer people up. There's a lot of people stuck indoors. When I came out the door it was quiet and I felt a bit nervous and tentative but as I went on I got my confidence.

"People were waving at me. Someone shouted out of the window 'there's a banana' and cars beeped at me.

"A mum and a daughter, on bikes, stopped and took a socially-distanced selfie with me. I've had lots of smiles and waves, it's been brilliant."

When resident Mark Pengelly saw the banana-costumed Sonia he could not believe his eyes.

He said: "It was absolutely brilliant. It's made a real difference and cheered me up. With this and all the rainbows and teddies in the windows, it's what people need and making things a bit better for everyone social distancing and in isolation."

Sonia has been carrying on her daily fitness regime and moved her Slimming World classes online using video conferencing system Zoom.

She said: "When the coronavirus lockdown hit, it changed everything. I went through a sort of grieving process but I'm lucky. I've got my family.

"You see the daily death tolls as an an antidote I put on the banana costume

"A banana is 'free food' so that's why I chose the costume. Now I've gone and ordered a strawberry too because that's healthy too.

"Keeping active is so important. Being active helps you stay healthy and it's put a smile on people's faces too."

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