During lockdown, we saw so many local heroes in our Towns, and we wanted to say thank you for all they did. In September we asked our guests for their stories, and rewarded them with a £10 gift, from us and them.
Here are some of the truly amazing words we received.
From The Swan at Salford
“I’d love to put my husband for a hero nomination. He is a teacher and has been working from home during lockdown (work suggested he stayed at home due to being at risk) but has been amazing at supporting his students via phone, email and video call support. We also had a baby in May in the midst of lockdown. It’s been really tough; he wasn’t allowed to attend baby-related appointments with us and had to deal with a very scared, emotional pregnant wife for two months before then looking after a new mum and newborn baby during lockdown while still working from home looking after his students. He really is a super teacher, husband and dad and deserves a couple of pints! Many thanks for reading my message.”
At The Thatch
“Hi, I would like to nominate Ailsa. She has worked tirelessly as a care worker all through Lockdown. She went down with the virus twice but bounced back and carried on with her work once recovered. In addition during this time she studied for her nursing refresher exams and re-qualified, (she used to be a nurse) so is now back working in the NHS as a nurse. She is always cheerful and thinking of others and deserves a treat!”
The Black Horse
“I want to nominate my daughter. She has worked at Specsavers all through the pandemic, taking and referring on customers with health concerns and covering other branches which have been short of staff. At first glance you wouldn’t think that opticians stand out as key workers but she has had very little time off and personally delivered items to vulnerable people. On top of that my mother died of Covid and as I was isolating in Wales, I was not able to attend the funeral, so Danielle stepped up to go in our place and support the rest of the family. She has put her anxieties aside to help everyone she can and I am so proud of her. The Black Horse is one of our special regular places to go together and it would be brilliant for her to see how much she has meant to family and customers alike. Thanks”
“My hero is my husband as he has looked after me after a major operation I had on the 27th February this year. Then covid hit and bless him he has supported me all the time. From shopping to all the household chores, in fact we went out for our first meal together celebrating our anniversary on the 25th August at The Black horse. Looking forward to our next visit to your restaurant. Many thanks.”
At The High Field
“My hero is my sister. I was made redundant just before lockdown, she supported me the whole time with looking for my new job. Whilst having our Mom over in Coventry for 2 weeks which turned into twelve weeks once lockdown was announced! Making masks and head bands for dentists doctors and many other key workers, whilst applying to become a health care assistant herself which she starts late September. She is my hero now and has been all my life.”
Star & Garter
“Hello, I would like to nominate someone for the Heroes. Laura has been working as an NHS physiotherapist within ITU treating Covid patients and hasn’t once complained. She deserves a little treat.”
“Hi, I’d like to nominate my boyfriend Gianni for having to step up from a final year physio student to working as a qualified physio in the NHS during COVID, 3 months before finishing his training. He worked on the medical respiratory wards seeing COVID positive patients”.
The Rose & Crown
“Dear Rose and Crown team. I’d like to nominate my friend, Sarah, as a Lockdown Hero because she did my weekly shopping for 19 weeks while I was in shielding and unable to venture out. That is what I call going above and beyond! I’d love for her to be rewarded with a £10 gift for The Rose and Crown. All the very best”
“Hi I would like to nominate Anne for my lockdown hero. In April our family had Covid, one by one and my husband was very poorly and admitted to hospital for 8 days. It was an incredibly worrying time for us all and my lovely friend and neighbour Anne cooked a Sunday roast for us and left it on our doorstep – the full works. It was delicious and really lifted our spirits. My husband has now made a full recovery.”
The Almanack
“My wife is a police officer in Birmingham, and throughout lockdown she did not miss a single shift and faced some horrible abuse in the way of members of the public spitting at her etc. Whilst everyone else was furloughed she was still doing 50-60 hour weeks. Her name is Karen, her absolute favourite pub is The Almanack. She loves the atmosphere, service and food/drinks. Stuart. Proud Husband 🙂”
The Fleece
“Hi, I would like to tell you about my hero, Bill. In March when the ambulance service were at their busiest due to Covid admissions he volunteered to be seconded from the fire service to work for SCAS. He worked for six weeks doing 12hr shifts assisting the paramedics and driving the ambulances. It would be lovely if he was chosen for a Fleece voucher as he loves there. We enjoyed a delicious burger and a peach and amaretto tart a couple of weeks ago.”
The Fishes
“Hi there, to give you bit of history, I will have a massive background of poor health, I spent a year in hospital fighting cancer and I have huge mobility challenges, through the lockdown I had to shield, I live on my own and spent four months stuck in the house alone. There are actually two individuals through lockdown that kept an eye on me by ensuring I’ve got my central medication, shopping and even bought a hot meal round once a week to leave on the doorstep. I didn’t have much support not even from the authorities, all of my care support of things were taken away by the government due to the cutbacks. Two separate individuals were amazing to me, and I really would love them to be acknowledged I say thank you continually but in appeals enough, firstly I was my friend Gail and then there was my friend William. Quite literally without those 2 individuals I don’t think I will be here today through the lockdown. We do go to The Fishes quite regularly, in fact I went there with my mother last week. If this is okay we need more information please let me know.”
“Hi, we want to say ‘cheers to our heroes’ at West Oxford Community Primary School who have been working so hard to get everything ready for the children’s return to school last Thursday after a challenging five months of teaching in person and online. Thanks in particular to Jamie for her tireless support to year 5 last term. We’ll miss her!”
The Boathouse
“I would like to nominate Catherine as my lockdown hero. As someone who lives alone, the start of lockdown was an anxious time for me. I was also told I needed to shield myself because of a medical condition and that meant that I couldn’t even get out of the house just to go shopping. I barely knew Catherine at the time – we had met through a mutual friend and become Facebook friends. When she heard of my predicament she immediately offered her help to go shopping for me. She then also started making me Sunday dinners and delivering them to me at home. You can’t believe what a morale booster this was to me. Once restrictions were slightly relaxed and it was o.k. for people to meet with social distancing, she invited me round to sit and chat in her garden. She was the first person I met after the start of lockdown. Catherine and The Boathouse have their own connection. She met her soon-to-be husband there at a social event and I’m sure she would really enjoy a dinner together with him to celebrate that first meeting. Hopefully, they would invite me along too! Thank you for your efforts during lockdown in turning the pub into a shop – I’m sure the local community appreciated that. Kind regards, Richard”