From amazing community volunteers to famous faces that went above and beyond, we pay tribute to some of the shining heroes who helped get us through this tough year.
Captain Tom
It’s a story that will no doubt live on for many years to come when we look back and marvel at how a then 99-year-old war veteran raised more than £33million for the NHS by walking 100 laps of his garden.
As well as his staggering fundraising efforts – which rightfully earned him a knighthood – it was Captain Sir Tom Moore’s attitude that inspired us as a nation as he told us “To all those who finding it difficult at the moment, the sun will shine on you again and the clouds will go away.”
In some cases that inspiration translated into other people taking up their own version of Captain Tom’s challenge to raise money for good causes. This included brave little five-year-old Tony Hudgell who has both legs amputated but raised over £1m for the hospital that saved his life by walking 10km in a month, having been inspired by watching Captain Tom on the TV.
Meanwhile, Ruth Saunders, a 104-year-old grandmother was moved by Tom to complete a marathon-length walk to raise £31,000 for her local air ambulance.
Inspiring individuals
Even in the face of uncertainty and fear, there were certain extraordinary individuals who came forward to make an incredible difference this year.
Realising early on that people who were self-isolating may struggle to get the help they needed, Becky Wass from Cornwall came up with an idea for a postcard that could be shared on social media, then printed and posted through neighbour’s door so they could request shopping, urgent supplies or a friendly phone call. Her postcard idea went viral around the world and helped so many communities support the people who were most in need.
Meanwhile, Sali Hughes, co-founder of the charity Beauty Banks stopped everything to get essential toiletries to people in poverty, especially after stockpiling left the shelves bare. She raised £60,000 to pay for soap, sanitiser, washing powder and other items to help people in financial difficulties, including those who found themselves newly struggling to afford basic necessities because of the pandemic.
PPE was a big topic of concern and many people around the country rallied to help sew face masks and other items for key workers. But one story that really touched us was that of sisters Lucy and Libby Garmston, aged eight and 13, who spent hours everyday sewing PPE for medical staff after their great uncle died of Covid-19.
Another youngster caught our eye in the form of 16-year-old student Nina Anderson who came up with a clever way of bringing isolated older people in care homes a little human contact by launching Community Senior Letters. Her project enlisted primary school children to write letters to residents in care homes where visitors were banned, making a huge difference to their mood.
The effect of the pandemic on everyone’s mental health was certainly at the forefront of psychotherapist Ruth Chaloner’s mind when she launched The Help Hub, a free online emotional support service for anyone experiencing loneliness, depression or anxiety during lockdown and led to more than 800 qualified therapists lending their expertise to the service free of charge.
The spirit raisers
In the middle of lockdown, a smile, a laugh and a chance to escape the every day were sometimes as needed as the bare essentials. That’s where happiness-spreading heroes like Jason Baird and Andrew Baldock came into their own. Known as the Stockport Spidermen, these two friends raised their community’s spirits by doing their daily runs around Stockport in superhero costumes, all while raising more than £40,000 for NHS charities.
Quizzes were part and parcel of the lockdown experience for many as a way to get together online and break from the everyday. But few quizzes were as successful as Jay Flynn’sweekly pub quizwhich launched online to give people a little light relief in the lockdown and attracted half a million people every week. The quizzes also raised £750,000, some of which went to the homelessness charity that helped him when he was a street sleeper a decade ago.
Meanwhile, rainbows have been the universal sign of hope during the pandemic which is an idea that was popularised in the UK by Ipswich mum Crystal Stanley. She came up with the idea after seeing something similar online in Italy and so created a local rainbow trail, encouraging people to paint, draw or craft a rainbow to display in their windows. Even the Queen later referenced the rainbows in a speech describing them as the symbol of the UK’s “national spirit” in the face of the pandemic.
And of course, we cannot forget the weekly Clap for Carers that gave all of us a chance to show our thanks and unite with neighbours from our doorsteps. The Thursday applause was the brainchild of Annemarie Plas who was inspired by something she’d seen in the Nertherlands. Initially planning just a one-off clapping event, the nation went onto cheer its key workers for ten weeks.
Did you know?
More than 750,000 people volunteered to be NHS Volunteer Responders helping collect essentials for those isolating, transport medication between NHS services and give a friendly call to those at risk of loneliness. Even now, many of the volunteers are still helping their local communities
Star turns
When the pandemic hit, certain famous faces really stepped up to help, going above and beyond to use their popularity and platform to do real good. Footballer Marcus Rashford immediately set out campaigning to end child poverty. Having received free school meal vouchers himself as a youngster, he lobbied to extend the voucher scheme to children from low-income families during the holidays, even forcing the government to make a total U-turn on the subject.
Even though that campaign was successful – and he received an MBE for his efforts – Marcus is still working tirelessly to raise more funds and kickstart new projects to end child hunger, as well as recently launching a new scheme making sure underprivileged children have access to the joy of reading.
It’s hard to talk about lockdown icons without mentioning Joe Wicks, the fitness teacher who became the nation’s PE teacher with his daily morning workouts on YouTube. Attracting almost 70 million views around the world he helped many families stay fit at a time when they couldn’t leave the house and raised over £500,000 for the NHS. He’s since completed a 24-hour work-out for Children In Need that raised more than £1m.
From sit-ups to songs, choirmaster Gareth Malone lifted the nation’s spirits and voices with his Great British Home Chorus. Launched the first week the UK officially went into lockdown, Gareth brought together 11,000 singers from around the world for regular singing rehearsals. Offering people from all walks of life, including key workers, the chance to escape the everyday through music, the choir went on to record a ground-breaking EP together.
You are amazing too!
One of our personal heroes at Yours has to be you, our amazing readers. Every year you astound us with your generosity and compassion, but this year has truly been exceptional. Even in the midst of a pandemic when we know many of you were dealing with your own personal challenges, you supported so many individuals, charities and causes that we featured in the pages of our magazine.
One of the biggest successes was the story of Di Slaney and her Manor Farm Charitable Trust where she looks after animals with special needs, from arthritic sheep to blind ducks. You loved the story so much you sent in £3,500 worth of donations. Di told us the money has enabled her to start work on projects, including a new pig house, that she never thought would be possible this year.
Meanwhile, in October (issue 361) we featured Wetnose Animal Aid, a charity we’ve supported in Yours for many years. As owner Andrea Gamby-Boulger told us about the plight of the small independent animal rescues they support because of the effects of the pandemic, you gave a staggering £2,5000 in response. But it’s not just donations of money you gave that made a difference this year. Daybreaks Greyhound Rescue****, who we featured in May (issue 349) were over the moon when they were inundated with your donations of your beautifully knitted blankets and towels to help keep warm the rescue greyhounds they care for.
From caring for animals to helping humans, you gave a wonderful £2,000 in donations to Ruddi’s Retreat, a charity providing much-needed breaks to families going through tough times. Set up by Ali Waterworth after her son was diagnosed with cancer as a baby, Ali told us your cheques were a true lifeline when they arrived just as the charity were really struggling with the financial loss from the pandemic.
And in February (issue 343), we featured the story of two friends who started From Me to You,a charity that encourages the nation to write letters to lift the spirits of someone with cancer. After the article, 230 of you signed up to write regular letters as well as donating both money and stamps.
Making a difference
We’ve shared here the stories of just a few of the people we think have made a difference this year but we know there are millions of other unsung heroes out there who have worked tirelessly and sometimes thanklessly throughout this crisis, helping make this pandemic more bearable for all of us.
Nurses, bus drivers, supermarket shelf stackers, postmen, teachers and all the dozens of other different key workers out there have helped hold our nation together in these hard times and we thank them endlessly for all they’ve done.
But also to all the kind-hearted individuals who did a bit of shopping for a neighbour, dropped some supplies off to a food bank or made a phone call to a stranger who was lonely, thank you to you, too.
Whether your actions had an impact on a nation, a community or just one another person, thank you so much for helping us get through this. You are all heroes!
