Covid: Lockdown rescue pony gives boost to book club

Micky, ridden by his owner Abi Eliot-Williams, first stepped into the role as a way to cheer up isolating residents during the lockdown

A rescue pony is giving members of a book club an "extra reason to smile" by delivering their novels.

Micky has been delivering books to the Hullavington Book Group in Wiltshire to enable them to continue to meet virtually.

The idea was inspired by the group's February read, Giver Of Stars, which is about a group of librarians who deliver books by packhorse.

Book clubber Amanda Opperman said she was left "surprised and delighted".

The book club is run by Elizabeth Parry-Williams and usually meets in Hullavington village hall, which is closed due to lockdown.

Her daughter, Abi Eliot-Williams offered Micky to help collect and deliver the books, with the help of her 11-year-old daughter Poppy.

Ms Eliot-Williams adopted Micky from the Blue Cross, after initially visiting to look at another pony in October last year

Ms Eliot-Williams said: "Micky has such a lovely smiley face. And so not only are people getting their book delivered, which they tell us they really look forward to anyway, but then we turned up with a nice pony and it's an extra reason to smile."

Mrs Parry-Williams has been ordering books from the local Malmesbury library via click and collect before distributing them to book club members in a socially-distanced way.

Ms Opperman said: "Having just read The Giver of Stars, I was so surprised and delighted when my doorbell rang and there was a beautiful little pony delivering my next book club read.

"A really lovely end to what had otherwise been a typical lockdown day."

Book club member Eileen Fry added the book delivery "is the highlight of our month".

One villager said the pony delivery was "a much-needed boost of optimism in the gloom of lockdowns"

Ms Eliot-Williams adopted Micky from the Blue Cross in October last year after he was found abandoned in poor conditions on a farm.

She said: "Micky just came over randomly and wouldn't leave us alone.

"It was purely just he decided to speak to us, and that was that - we had to have him."

Abigail Leach, the horse re-homing coordinator at the Blue Cross, said: "It's really wonderful to see Micky now doing so well in his new home and bringing a smile to everyone in his local community during these difficult times."