Tell TSB who your local hero is! £300 voucher to be won! NOW CLOSED

[PoppyMumsnet]

We're working with TSB who have launched #TSBLocalPride as part of their support for Pride of Britain. They’re on a search to find the ‘pride of your community’. It could be your sports coach, best friend, child's teacher or a local business. Do you know someone in your community who made a real difference? Do you fancy giving someone recognition for their effort? If so, tell us about them and why they deserve to be mentioned on the thread below. NB you don't have to name them if you don't want to!

In addition, you can enter on Instagram by sharing a photo of your chosen person/people (with their permission) and an explanation of how they help others, using #TSBLocalPride and #mumsnet. For doing this, you will be entered into a second prize draw to win another £300. Your profile will need to be public for the entry to be counted, and do check with anyone in the photo that they're happy for it to be shared.

Here’s what TSB has to say “TSB are proud to be part of local communities where people help people and we all thrive together. That is what we at TSB call Local Pride, thank you for being part of it.”

Everyone who shares their story here will be entered into a prize draw to win a £300 voucher of their choice (from a list).

Many thanks and good luck!

MNHQ

Standard T&Cs apply

*TSB may want to feature some of the best stories on their site. If they are interested in yours they will contact Mumsnet who will PM you to see if you give your permission. No worries if you don't want your story featured.

NB the people you nominate won't be entered into the Pride of Britain awards. This thread is just for showcasing stories about how members of your community have made a difference.

I would like to nomimy sons TA. She has gone above and beyond to keep him happy at school and even though he has multi special needs he can read and is doing really well at maths. His TA is giving him the foundation he needs to help him throughout life.

We would like to nominate Bruce our scout leader who gives up loads of free time to help youngsters. My son has asd and he is so understanding and encouraging. Ds loves going and ir gives him the chance to socialise and do new things that he would not get to do otherwise. Activities include orienteering, presenting on a local radio station, visiting local mountain rescue and he is going to Harry Potter studios as the xmas treat. All the leaders deserve praise for their efforts. Thank you

I would nominate the chaplain at the hospital who took such good care of us when dd1 died. She sat with dd2 when we spent time with dd1 and has always listened over the years. I know I am 9ne of many and this continues even though she is no longer employed in that role or at the hospital.

I'd like to nominate Sue Anderton who set up and runs courses to help and educate parents of children with ASD. She now also runs courses for professionals so those in education can understand the issues facing the kids and what they can do to support them.
https://www.facebook.com/TheMAZEGroupCiC/

Posted too soon! Sue has worked incredibly hard over the years to support parents. Sadly recently she had to take the difficult decision to take a fee for the courses as the rent of halls and her own expenses need to be covered. The local Paediatric team tell all parents of those likely to be or recently diagnosed to attend the course if they can as there is little other support for those who can,in many cases, have no idea that others face the same issues or what can be done to help. She's been a blessing to me and many other families as otherwise we would have had no idea what help was out there for our kids including help to get the support in school they na y need. She's always willing to reply to a parent in need and gives up much of her time having gone through these issues with her own family.

My mum! Although quite elderly herself she's always helping her friends out. They really appreciate everything she does for them and I think she's amazing!

I'd like to nominate this woman called Dr Margolis, who I met at an open day at the National Physical Laboratories in Teddington

She has worked there for 19 years carrying out pioneering science.

For the same time, I have lived in the area and wondered what on earth goes on in that mysterious place.

Dr Margolis has created an atomic clock. Which sounds like nothing interesting, but it actually underpins everything we do in the entire world, as it creates a base standard for time, right down to many millionths of a second, which enables every machine in the world to have exactly the same time on its system clock. Yes, Dr Margolis has synchronised every machine in the entire world!

Which means - the medical equipment - scanners, life support, dialysis etc - that saves billions of lives across the world.

The satellites that run our space programmes, our TV and military.

The mobile phone networks that are doing more to alleviate poverty and disease in the third world than anything in history. (The World Bank has stats that indicate millions of people have been lifted out of poverty by having a mobile phone because it helps them find work, enables them to have a bank account and, through preventative medicine and communicating advice, helps stop the spread of disease)

The entire world's internet of computers could not work together, and finance could not be traded and stock markets could not move, without a base standard of time on which they could all agree on. And that is provided by the work of Dr Helen Margolis and her colleagues at the National Physical Laboratory. but they are such unsung heroes that even our local paper doesn't mention them!

I'd like to nominate my friends. They are not just friends now but have become family after saving mine and my children's lives after taking us in to their one bedroom home when we were escaping domestic abuse. They had only met us once and without any hesitation 5 days before Christmas they welcomed us in to their home and gave up their bedroom for us. They loved us and helped us heal. We lived with them for nearly 5 months. From strangers we became family. Now almost 2 years on, they are now having a baby of their own and I'd love to be able to bless them with the £300 to say thank you. There is no money in the world that can ever repay the act of kindness that they showed to me and my children. But in some small way this may be a way of just saying how much we love them and they will always be our heroes ❤️

I'd like to nominate Nigel Farage.

Nobody for decades has done more for this country and its sense of local spirit and community than he. He, against all odds and against relentless persecution, led a campaign for freedom for this country which has resulted in one of the most incredible votes for democracy, freedom and our rights as citizens that this country has ever known.

I would like to nominate the kind nurses from the Rapid Response team who's care, attentiveness and wonderful bedside manner have hugely facilitated my elderly and ill father to remain in his own home. They are always happy to hear from him, monitor him closely and check in on him off their own back. It's heart warming

The NHS maternity staff at my local hospital made a huge difference to me. They are so hard working and caring, and stay in a very difficult profession, despite being underpaid and overworked.

This might be triggering for people who have experienced loss of a baby. I hope it's ok to post because I think the work Jo does is really important, but I appreciate this might not be the sort of thread you expect to see this in, hence all the bold.

I would like to nominate a local woman called Jo Cope who is a photographer at my DCs swimming school.

She had a baby born sleeping and was very aware in the aftermath of the importance of having photos of those precious, short moments with her baby. She took these experiences and her grief and channelled it into a side line to her main photography business, a voluntary and totally free service she runs for parents who lose a baby in these circumstances. She's on call 365 days a year, 24 hours a day and tries to get out to help anyone in this situation within an hour of getting the call. She knows how awful it is, and does everything she can to help preserve memories, even when the parents involved are grief stricken and don't really know what to do.

I only learned all of this about her by chance having ordered some photos of my DC swimming, and everything I have heard about what she has done since (including a chat with a friend of a friend who she helped in similar distressing circumstances) has made me feel more respect for her and the kindness she shows her clients.

I hope it's ok to post a link to her talking in her own words about what she does - as much because she's always trying to raise awareness of the services she offers around Essex for anyone who needs them.

babylossstar.co.uk/2017/09/04/committed-baby-loss-volunteer-jo-cope-profile-page/

I would nominate our village postmaster. He's 85, and has carried on working because he's frightened the Post Office will shut without him. So many local people rely on it, and he's an absolute gem.

I'd like to nominate my old secondary school teacher who turned my hatred for his subject into a passion still going 2 decades later. He might never realise what an impact he made on young people just by teaching a subject well, but it definitely changed the course of my life.

There's a lovely lady who lives in my town who is a real "Community Champion". She's employed by a business to do this job but I strongly suspect she puts far more time and effort in than she is actually expected to do.
She is constantly dealing with charity requests and not just on a monetary basis, for example if someone says they need a children's park updating she'll get a gang of volunteers together to sort it out.
She's been dealing with twelve local charities on a regular basis so now they are connecting with each other too and sharing resources. Apart from these twelve she must have dealt with virtually every charitable group locally at some point.

Her employer provides a community room for groups to use free of charge which is so welcome because council cut-backs meant lots of similar rooms/ halls had to either put their rents up or close completely.
This lady is so warm and personable that she inspires other people to join in and try and make a difference in their own way.

Our local PCSO has just left the Force. A very sad day for Devon and Cornwall Police, she was a huge asset to them in every way.

Sadly she was very ill last year and the whole community rallied around her. I sincerely hope that she knew then and knows now how effective she had been, and how well regarded she is.

I wish her the best in moving on from the Police. It's a thankless job.

Happy to name her to TSB!

I would nominate the lady who ran the Cub Scout Pack that I help with, she has been a Cub Scout leader for over 60 years and until she retired last year had hardly missed a week. She is a real inspiration and even though she is now in her 80's she would still be helping now if her health would let her. She is a real pillar of the community, helping out at village events and sharing her amazing Scouting knowledge with the village.

I would nominate the lady who runs our local homeless outreach team who works part time in a caring role and then unpaid running a caring organisation. There's been numerous set backs for her but she carries on and makes a huge difference in our community.