THIS past year will always be remembered for the scourge of Covid.

The loss, grief, heartache and sacrifice will take a long time to heal. It may never.

But 2020 is also a year to be remembered as one of creativity and community spirit.

It’s the year people put teddy bears in their windows for children to spot on a giant bear hunt when Easter activities were cancelled.

In turn, children painted rainbows and stuck them in windows to cheer us all up with their upbeat and colourful creations.

When the dark nights descended, communities rallied to embrace the Winter Wanderland project, illuminating their streets with window art.

Not as colourful, but equally engaging, is the work of the mysterious Silhouettesman.

Something curious has been going on in the village of West Linton since the first coronavirus lockdown and continued in the run-up to Christmas.

A series of striking silhouettes have popped up, seemingly out of nowhere.

The cut-outs are the work of two men – with the help of others – who wish to remain anonymous.

One of them explained that it all began as the coronavirus pandemic began to strike.

“It started during lockdown, there are two of us doing it,” he said. “We had some scrap plywood and I said: ‘I’m going to make some sheep’. We stuck them in the grass by the river in the village.

“We have got a very active Facebook page for the village and they got a lot of comments. From there, interest quickly grew as more of the cut-outs appeared.

“Then it just kind of exploded – lots of people started visiting them,” he said.

“We got loads of positive feedback. People told us they have given us a reason to leave the house and take the kids out.

“People said they made a difference to their mental health.”

That made the people behind Silhouettesman decide to use the works to raise funds for charity.

“A friend of ours was Scott Hutchison from Frightened Rabbit,” he explained. “His brother has set up Tiny Changes in his honour.

“If it is helping people’s mental health, let’s see if we can raise some money.”

The silhouettes have generated more than £5000 so far with some of them being raffled off. In the run-up to Christmas, they raised more funds – this time for Shelter – with a nativity scene. Donations can be made through justgiving.com.

As well as helping others, it has also helped the artists themselves.

“For us it has been great to have an outlet during lockdown,” said Silhouettesman. “It has been so rewarding seeing everyone else enjoy them.”

Graham Tulloch, who chairs the village’s community council, said locals had been “truly delighted” when the first silhouettes appeared.

“They lifted our spirits at a very dark period when we could not see our friends or families and only venture out for one hour of exercise a day,” he said.

Let’s hope we can continue being creative in ways to lift spirits as we look forward to a new year.