SWNSA five-year-old girl was delighted to find a note she had written urging people to ‘be kind’ had been transformed into a billboard on her city’s busiest road.
Little Eliza gave the handwritten message to her mum, 34-year-old Isabelle McKay-Smith, because she wanted people to ‘try and be happy’.
The proud mum arranged for the note to be displayed in Eliza’s handwriting on a billboard on Sheffield Parkway, a five-and-a-half mile road that connects the city to the M1.
SWNSIsabelle had contacted digital advertising agency CNS about the note, having told Eliza she was going to make a few copies to hand them out in the city centre.
The young girl could never have imagined how many people were actually going to read her caring words, however, after the agency got in touch with Isabelle to say it would feature the note on the large billboard.
Her note reads:
Try to be happy. Be Kind. Try not to fall over. Don’t forget your keys. Eliza, age 5, from Greystones in Sheffield.
Proud mum Isabelle, a charity fundraising manager, said her daughter ‘loves encouraging people’, with the pair going to all of the running events in Sheffield so that Eliza can hold up signs ‘telling the runners they’re smashing it’.
SWNSEliza also puts up notes for the neighbours telling them to have a good day, with Isabelle saying: ‘It’s just her nature to play nicely with others and to share and be generally kind. She just wants to be nice to everyone, every day.’
She went on to explain how the note came about:
We were having a conversation about being nice to each other, and she was writing this note and said she wanted everyone in Sheffield to see the message.
Children view the world in a really nice, innocent way. She is encouraged at school and church to spread the message of kindness and joy and that’s what she was doing.
Eliza said she wanted her words to go up ‘in the middle of town where lots of people will see it, to make them happy and help them’. She added: ‘I love it and I feel proud.’ Her mum also said she’s ‘hugely proud’ of her.
SWNSIsabelle hopes the message will brighten motorists’ days and that adults will take note of the advice, stating: ‘There’s so much negativity around recently, it’s so nice to see a positive message for a change.’
A spokesperson for CNS said:
CNS Media received a heart-warming message from Eliza’s mother Isabelle. In the email, she told them about how her daughter had created a poster design and her dream was to have this design showcased in Sheffield for everyone to see.
As we’re all very aware, the past week has brought some tragic news,and in a time where there’s a lot of darkness in the media, Eliza wanted to help spread some light by ‘cheering up the people of Sheffield’.
The message was put up on Tuesday, February 18, just days after Caroline Flack was found dead at the age of 40 after taking her life. Since her tragic passing, social media has been flooded with the words ‘be kind‘ after the TV presenter posted those exact words to her Instagram page weeks before her death.
PA ImagesCNS was so ‘touched’ by Eliza’s message, it immediately got in touch with its partner Anco Digital, who within hours had her message up on its prime digital 48-sheet billboard on the Sheffield Parkway.
The message will be in place into next week. What a star, well done Eliza!
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A Broadcast Journalism Masters graduate who went on to achieve an NCTJ level 3 Diploma in Journalism, Lucy has done stints at ITV, BBC Inside Out and Key 103. While working as a journalist for UNILAD, Lucy has reported on breaking news stories while also writing features about mental health, cervical screening awareness, and Little Mix (who she is unapologetically obsessed with).