The Ipswich mum who helped bring the rainbow trail movement to the UK has hailed plans for neighbours to ring their bells together on Christmas Eve for “bringing hope to families”.

East Anglian Daily Times: Crystal Stanley, who founded the rainbow trail in Ipswich and her daughter Arianna, are going to be taking part in the Christmas Eve Jingle. Picture: SARAH LUCY BROWNCrystal Stanley, who founded the rainbow trail in Ipswich and her daughter Arianna, are going to be taking part in the Christmas Eve Jingle. Picture: SARAH LUCY BROWN (Image: Archant)

The Christmas Eve Jingle has already attracted more than 500,000 people around the world on Facebook, who will come together as one to end 2020 with a bit of magic.

The nationwide event will see thousands of families stand on their doorsteps at 6pm (GMT) on Christmas Eve, ringing bells for two minutes to spread Christmas spirit.

It will be similar to the ‘Clap for Carers’ evenings, where in the height of the pandemic people banged pots and pans at 8pm every Thursday to thank frontline NHS workers.

Another community initiative which brought smiles to people throughout the pandemic, was The Rainbow Trail, which was brought to the UK by Ipswich mum Crystal Stanley.

She said the Christmas Eve Jingle is a “brilliant” idea, and will be taking part with her partner and her daughter Ariana.

“It is going to be great for families and it will give everyone hope,” said Miss Stanley, who now has 194,000 members in The Rainbow Trail Facebook group.

“It will be great to have something positive to look forward to, as we are likely to be stuck in this situation for some time.”

MORE: Ipswich mum who helped start ‘rainbow trail’ expresses pride as Queen praises movementMiss Stanley said 2020 has been a tough year for many people and anything that can help is a great idea.

“The more distractions there are for families and children the better,” she said.

“When we are at home by ourselves it is easy to over think how difficult this year has been, so this is another great way to take us away from reality.”

Miss Stanley said she was left “speechless” by the success of The Rainbow Trail and wants to do more to keep the community spirit up as we carry on battling the virus.

She is now doing a Halloween trail, where people can draw pumpkins and put them in their windows, as well as a poppy trail in November for Remembrance Day.

She has also created The Rainbow Trail Community group on Facebook, which has been dedicated to helping others in the community. This includes highlighting places which are offering free meals for school children following last week’s parliamentary vote against Marcus Rashford’s campaign to extend free school meals for half-term.