Birthday surprise for dedicated South Yorkshire lollipop lady working through the lockdown

Glynis Bolton has helped generations of pupils from Treeton School to cross the road safely and is working through the lockdown to help children of key workers across the road to school.

The youngsters surprised Glynis with a bouquet and birthday cards on Friday as she shepherded them across the busy crossing.

Glynis is also head dinner lady at Treeton School and husband Roy is the caretaker there.

Her son Lee said: “Everyone knows her in the village and it was her 65th birthday. she was a bit down so I asked one of the mums to put it on a Facebook group where they all talk about school related things.

“It was shared by other year groups and then it went ‘viral’ as they say. She got 50 cards and eight bunches of flowers.

“It is such a good feeling story rather than everything being down at the moment.”

Glynis said: “It was very much a surprise. I was standing on the crossing waiting waiting for the kids to come across and I kept having these people saying happy birthday – and I was thinking how do these people know this?

I asked them and they said: “Oh, a little bird told us.”

Then later on Lee came to post the mail through our door and he said; “Mum just put some make-up on your face when you go to work”

I wondered why but I did as I was told and then the photographer came and met me.

“Then all the kiddies – obviously we kept a distance – and their parents were coming and saying happy birthday. I didn’t think it was going to be like that I thought it was going to be a very boring 65th birthday. But it wasn’t it was lovely. I want to say thank you to everybody. When you can’t see your family or your friends it’s a bit of a downer when it’s a special birthday. This one was a bit more special.”