Caitlin’s rocking all over the world

SHE started by hiding them less than a mile from her home but dozens of small painted rocks made by a Henley girl have now made it to all corners of the world.

Caitlin Donaldson has acute lymphoblastic leukaemia, a form of cancer that affects white blood cells. After her diagnosis in September, she started decorating and hiding rocks to cheer up the people who find them.

The 10-year-old, of South Avenue, Henley, with her parents Nick Donaldson and Tammy Kelly and nine-year-old brother Lewis, came up with the idea of making the rocks after seeing others doing it online.

The rocks soon began to make their way across the UK and now many have been re-hidden in exotic locations including a coastal town in Mexico, on top of a cathedral in Valencia and even at the base of the Great Pyramids in Egypt.

Caitlin, a pupil at Badgemore Primary School, has hidden hundreds of her rocks which feature colourful images such as flowers, a strawberry, a ladybird and Spider-Man.

She also set up a Facebook page called Caitlin Rocks so she can see where people have found her creations.

The finders are encouraged to post a picture on the page and then hide the rock somewhere else for others to discover.

Her mother says said: “The Facebook page now has more than 1,300 members. It’s so nice that we get to see all the photos of different parts of the world where we’ve never been.”

Despite the far flung travels of Caitlin’s creations, local rock-hunters shouldn’t fear — there are still plenty in Henley waiting to be found.