The sunflower seeds will be offered to customers at their Chadderton store, amongst others, in packs of ten by checkout colleagues after they have finished their shopping.

They will also be included within Morrisons online shopping orders.

Morrisons Community Champions will also be working with schools, care homes and community groups to distribute the packs and plant the seeds in their local areas.  

Customers can plant the seeds in pots at home and watch them grow into dwarf sunflowers which will be between six and 14 inches tall. 

Morrisons will be giving away the 2.5 million packets of sunflower seeds to customers in all 497 stores from Monday 12 April.

They should be planted in a 6-inch-diameter pot at a depth of half an inch and will begin to sprout in two to five days. 

David Potts, Morrisons CEO, said: “This has been a very difficult year for our country and this winter has seemed especially dark and tough.

"So as spring arrives, and with Covid seemingly in retreat, we want to help celebrate the growing sense of national optimism by planting these sunflowers across the UK, representing the brighter and lighter times of hope ahead.”  

To continue to spread messages of hope, Morrisons Community Champions have also launched the  ‘Little Sunshine’ award - to recognise those who have gone above and beyond in their local community throughout the pandemic. 

All 497 Morrisons stores will deliver ‘Little Sunshine’ certificates and gifts to hundreds of children nationwide who have been nominated for their contribution to supporting the local community through the pandemic.