A VILLAGE display to commemorate Easter has taken off to become a symbol of hope for locals.

West Kilbride Parish Church created the Emerging Hope display originally for its members to celebrate the resurrection of Jesus, with butterflies placed around the church.

However, the display soon became a community symbol of positivity - with over 500 butterflies now adorning the building after hundreds of locals adopted the attraction.

Church elder Shona Lidbury says the church has been overwhelmed by the response.

She said: “Around Easter time the church wanted to put together a project where our members coloured-in butterflies for a display.

“It started off quite small scale but it soon started to become bigger and bigger.

“We extended it out to anybody who wanted to join in and the primary school pupils also then wanted to take part as well.

“We have almost 500 butterflies in the display, which looks pretty amazing. It was amazing how it caught on."

Shona believes West Kilbride residents connected with the idea as a show of hope for the future.

She said: “The idea behind the display was about Jesus being resurrected on Good Friday, to celebrate Easter in the village.

“The idea of the butterflies was to symbolise the caterpillar hiding away and re-emerging in a beautiful new form.

“We had coined the display Emerging Hope, and it just so happened that it coincided with the easing of lockdown restrictions.

“It really tied in as everyone is hopeful about the future, with virus cases falling and the vaccine programme being so successful.”

Shona, pictured, says the simplicity of the project helped with its appeal.

She added: "The fact it ended up such a community project was really nice.

“It was quite a simple thing to do and it meant that young and old had an easy and accessible way to show their own hope.

“Quite a few people said they found colouring-in their butterfly therapeutic, and it gave them a chance to be creative as well.

"The response in the village has been fantastic."