Five-year-old's woodland den raises spirits within Sheffield community

Lenny Bates, who lives with his parents Julie and Scott and two-year-old sister Livvy in Handsworth, built the den in Bowden Housteads Woods last month shortly before the UK went into lockdown.

Determined to share Lenny’s woodland creation with his friends, his parents posted pictures of the den on Facebook asking those who happened to pass it to take a picture of themselves and share it online.

But, they didn’t realise just how popular it would be and have received hundreds of pictures and messages from families who have visited the den during their daily run, walk or cycle.

Lenny’s mum, Julie Grimes, said: “They built the den but Lenny said I’d like my friends to look and I said why don’t we tell people to visit the den, take a selfie, and tag us on Facebook thinking nothing of it. Lenny originally left a sign saying ‘Hi I’m Lenny, this is my den – tag yourself, it would be nice to know who you are and something about yourself.

“Then it went massive, loads were coming to it and tagging themselves and writing Lenny letters, he was writing back, and they then started leaving little treats.”

Julie stopped the letters when the lockdown came into force, however, the treats carried on with lots of colourful decorations and positive messages on display.

She added: “It’s been so good – when we visit the den we can see people waiting and following the social distancing rules. Lenny wakes up and says ‘are we going to the den today?’ he’s so excited about what he’s going to find.

“One of my friends said it’s keeping the kids' spirits alive during this time, on their daily walk they love visiting the den and putting decorations up.”

Lenny, who is a pupil at Athelstan Primary School and celebrates his sixth birthday on April 29, checks the den on a daily basis and is hoping more people will now add their own positives messages for others to read.

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