Five stories that show coronavirus hasn't broken community spirit

The lockdown continues to keep us indoors as the world battles the coronavirus pandemic.

But that hasn't broken spirits across the globe, with stories emerging every day of community spirit, charity and selflessness.

Here are some examples from just the past 24 hours to warm your heart.

A great British campout

Support for the NHS has been widespread. Credit: PA

We’ve been clapping for the NHS to show our support for the health workers battling the pandemic and a broadcast of ITV was even paused to specifically encourage the nation to applaud them.

But one man wanted to take the support further and spread an idea to raise money for the NHS without leaving home.

Ian Alcord launched a JustGiving page, suggesting a £2 donation for a campout in the garden or driveway on Saturday night.

Dubbed the Great British Campout for NHS staff, the page raised more than £81,000 as of Sunday morning.

A simple idea went a long way and could go even further still.

R-E-S-P-E-C-T

While the NHS has the backing of the public, those inside the hospitals are raising their own morale in unique ways.

At Prince Charles Hospital in Merthyr Tydfil, Wales, staff filmed themselves dancing through the corridors to the tune of Aretha Franklin's Respect.

The video was shared on Twitter on Sunday morning,

A birthday surprise

Dexter Lee alongside big brother Freddie and Sergeant Mark Wilson. Credit: Merseyside Police/PA

Earlier this weekend, a four-year-old had a special birthday thanks to his local police officers.

Dexter Lee was meant to be celebrating his fourth birthday on a family holiday but it was cancelled due to the lockdown.

His mother Anna had to tell him he couldn’t invite his friends to their home in Mossley Hill, Liverpool.

She asked friends if they knew of any police officers who could drive past the house to give a special wave to Dexter, who wants to join the force when he grows up, and the message was passed on to Merseyside Police.

Sergeant Mark Wilson and force mascot Bobby paid a special birthday visit to Dexter, armed with a goodie bag and a superhero card from Chief Constable Andy Cooke.

Dexter’s grandparents Fred and Margaret Diamond, and Andy and Mari Lee, who have been in isolation at home, were able to join the celebrations from their cars outside the house, along with neighbours.

The youngster and his big brother Freddie got to try out the blues and twos in the police van, while baby brother Mason, aged six months, looked on.

Dexter, who had Happy Birthday sung to him by the street, is now looking forward to a visit to Speke police station when restrictions are lifted.

Hearts in chalk

Community spirit was also on show further afield in the US.

Sisters Kabrina and Katasha Kringen of Mesa, Arizona, launched a community project to lift spirits during the Covid-19 epidemic.

They began chalking hearts on the streets of their Las Sendas neighbourhood, before local kids added their own contributions.

The sisters have since dubbed the project "Be a Light".

“With help from my neighbours, we were able to fill our neighbourhood with love,” wrote Kabrina, who uploaded an aerial recording of the heart-covered streets.

“At first we were like OK, we will just put one heart here, you know, walk six feet draw another heart,” her sister Natasha told ABC.

“All of a sudden, it became like hearts everywhere,” she said.

Cheers to that!

Cider slides down to a car at Zum Lahmen Esel in Frankfurt, Germany. Credit: AP

Also abroad, this time in Germany, a 200-year-old restaurant facing closure due to social distancing guidance has thought up an imaginative new way to keep the drinks flowing.

Thomas Metzmacher, owner of Metzmacher’s Zum Lahmen Esel in Frankfurt, changed his outlet into a makeshift drive-through.

The restaurant, which specialists in traditional hard cider, is offering drinks, as well as schnitzel, fried potatoes and other German favourites, to customers pulling up in cars.

The restaurant normally seats 200 people inside and another 200 in an outdoor garden.

Now, customers drive up to a small booth in front of the restaurant, where one of Mr Metzmacher’s 36 employees takes their order, and then pushes a plastic tub down a makeshift slide to take payment at a safe distance.

Coronavirus: Everything you need to know