51Âþ»­

A student who loves all things Disney is cheering up children during lockdown by going for her daily exercise walk dressed as famous cartoon characters.

Jasmine Cooper, a Graphic Design student at 51Âþ»­ Leicester (51Âþ»­), has brought smiles to the faces of youngsters as she dresses as Sleeping Beauty, Cinderella and Elsa in her home village of Sileby, Leicestershire.

“At times like this, everyone needs a bit of sparkle in their life,” she said.

Jasmine has been a huge fan of Disney all her life – “my parents took me to Disneyworld at two and that sealed the deal” she laughs - and now works for an events company doing personal appearances at children’s parties and charity events.

With the country in lockdown, Jasmine is now doing her appearances on FaceTime, making calls to young Disney fans. She was in her Sleeping Beauty costume, and suggested to her partner that she go for their daily walk around the village dressed up.

She put a message on Sileby’s community Facebook page, letting them know her plans and inviting parents to tell children to look out for a special visitor to the village.

“The response was unbelievable,” she said. “All these people were there waiting for me, one woman said I had made her day and now, I’m getting messages from parents asking me to come to their street and visit so that their children can see me.”

Jasmine, a first-year student, made sure she kept to the Government’s social distancing guidelines while on her walk. She would walk on the opposite pavement or stand at least two metres away.

Her favourite Disney Princesses are Sleeping Beauty and Elsa from Frozen. She said: “Elsa is literally God to kids, it sounds daft but I feel I have got such a good connection to her, because she shows you can overcome anything in your path.

“I think Disney is so positive – characters and the princesses are always on a journey but they are resilient and they never let anything keep them down.”