A NEW creative craze has taken off in Ludgershall as ‘hidden rocks’ have begun to pop-up throughout the town.

Residents in Ludgershall have been painting and hiding rocks as part of a new hobby sweeping the nation inspired by the Kindness Rocks project in the USA, which aims to inspire people through randomly placed rocks to promote random acts of kindness.

From this, the Ludgershall ‘hidden rocks’ Facebook page was created.

Donna Berry, a Ludgershall resident who helped bring this global craze to Ludgershall, said: “I first found out about hidden rocks back in November when me and my little girl found some rocks in Basingstoke.

“I had never heard about it before but my friend who I was with did and both our little girls enjoyed finding and hiding lots of rocks.

“I logged onto the Facebook group ‘hidden rocks’ and found out a bit more about it.

“I decided it was something I would love to do with my daughter in Ludgershall as no one was doing it around our way.

“So at Christmas time we decorated our first batch of rocks and hid them and posted on the Facebook group some little clues where they were hidden. A few people commented on it so I explained what it was about and then they joined the group as well.”

After a few weeks of mass producing an assortment of colourful rocks, Mrs Berry and her daughter were thrilled to find lots of people in the town had started making, hiding and finding rocks.

Mrs Berry said: “The old castle and the park are very popular places and every weekend you now see people up there ‘rock hunting!’ The new sound of spring and summer is ‘I found a hidden rock’ with lots of smiles.”

Childminder Debbie Rowley was inspired to take part in the activity with the children she looks after as a creative outlet.

Mrs Rowley said: “We initially started about three weeks ago, with the children initially finding rocks on our way to and from school or out and about in the village.

“So armed with Sharpie pens, paint pens and various other ‘all materials’ pens, I let the children loose on the rocks.

“The activity has helped me to show them how to draw various things, use different colours, shading and combining different resources.”

Michelle Orme and her daughter have also enjoyed taking part. She said: “We love painting the rocks together and hiding them. Then there is an anxious wait to see who finds them and when. It makes our walks a lot more fun for sure and it’s something my daughter and I can do together whilst her brother sleeps.

“It does get scary though when she shouts in the car to stop as there is a rock.

“It’s also a fantastic way of getting children and adults alike to be more vigilant when walking, spotting things unusual.”