Dance teacher spreads sunny gifts to students

Charlotte Garcka, Summer Hoyle and Annabel Crooks all planting their sunflowers

A local dance teacher has spread some joy by gifting her students an unusual present whilst her dance studio is closed.

In an unusual act, Gemma Singleton, principal of Singletons Dance Academy, delivered the seeds to her dancers’ homes last weekend, taking care to avoid any contact due to the coronavirus pandemic.

She said: “I drove around Rochdale and delivered everyone an envelope saying not to open until 6pm.

“At 6pm I sent them a video saying that in the envelope there are sunflower seeds. Sunflowers take 90 days to fully grow; we may not have classes for 90 days, but I want them to grow and take photos of their sunflower until we resume.”

Standard sunflowers are usually between 6 to 10 feet in height, although some giant varieties can grow even taller.

Gemma added: “In all this madness, we need to find a calm.”