With the coronavirus lockdown still in full swing, you still can’t go round to your friend’s house with a bottle of wine to say thank you for being a mate.
So a woman from Bristol has come up with an ingenious, and slightly bonkers, way of saying thank you - and it is taking off like mad across the city.
People are hiring Claudia Collins to go round to their friend’s or relatives’ homes, knock on the door, leave a bottle of wine on the doorstep as a present, step back and then sing them a song of thanks.
While playing a green ukulele.
Dressed as a bunch of grapes.
She’s called it the ‘Grape-o-Gram’ and so far, requests for her unique gift service have spread by word of mouth.
She’s limited by how many places she can get to in a day from her home in Knowle West by bike.
But each recipient is guaranteed a surprise, a little song and a bottle of vino - or non-alcoholic substitute.
Don't expect too much from the song itself - it's sung more with enthusiasm than operatic levels of technical vocal ability - and Claudia shares the tongue-in-cheek reviews on the Grape-o-Gram Facebook page, where she also takes bookings.
“It’s been really fun to see people’s reactions,” she said.
“They are confused at the start, but when they realise who sent it to them, they laugh and have had a few people cry.
“I have had the idea for years, but never had the guts to do it, but now felt like it was the right time. Most people are finding isolation really hard, especially with milestone birthdays and not seeing loved ones, so it’s nice to bring something a little silly to the day - as well as practical, with wine, Shloer, or grapes.
“I generally video call the person that has sent it and hold the phone up to the recipient at the end of the song,” she added.
Claudia doesn’t quite have a set price for her service. “So far I have been asking for the cost of the wine, and what people think my delivery is worth. I have left it pretty open so it can include all budgets, but generally people have been paying £20 including the wine,” she said.
“I’ve had lots of inquiries, and have got bookings ahead for the next three weeks,” she added.
Claudia has been busy in lockdown - a few weeks ago, she turned the ‘beach roads’ in her part of Knowle West into real beaches as part of an arty lockdown project to make people’s little daily exercise walks more interesting.
