A much-loved Derbyshire bakery is aiming to celebrate the generosity and spirit of its local community by launching a formal search for three lockdown heroes.
Stacey's Bakery, which has branches in Ilkeston, Eastwood and Heanor, was quick to adapt its services to the needs of local people during the Covid lockdown – and it’s now aiming to celebrate the communities it serves by recognising the efforts and achievements of locals who have gone out of their way to help others.
Managing Director, David Stacey, said: "Here at Stacey’s, we certainly tried to do our bit during the Covid lockdown.
“We increased bread production threefold to help meet the demand created by empty supermarkets. We operated a delivery service because we knew that a lot of our elderly and vulnerable customers would be confined to their own homes. And we also offered children's gingerbread decorating packs to help ease the boredom of lockdown for house-bound kids.
“But having served these communities for a century or so, we know how caring and tightknit they are – so now the restrictions are easing, we’re keen to uncover the stories of some of the local people who have gone the extra mile to help make other people’s lives better.”
Stacey’s Bakery, which bakes everything by hand to recipes that have been in the family since the early 1900s, has always been very sensitive to the needs of its customers so David is keen to make sure that entry to his community hero campaign is as straightforward as possible.
He said: “The idea is really simple. We want people to get in touch and nominate their community heroes from in and around Ilkeston, Eastwood and Heanor.
“We want to know who the nominees are, why they’re being nominated and what they’ve done to deserve recognition. Whether that’s someone who’s helped alleviate the loneliness of the elderly, someone who’s helped kickstart socially distanced activity groups or someone who’s assisted with shopping or gardening gear, we want to hear about them so we can help tell their stories.”
Once all the nominations are in, David and the Stacey’s Bakery team will scour the entries and pick the three people they think have done the most to help out during the unprecedented challenges presented by Covid-19 lockdown. The three deserving winners, one from Ilkeston, one from Eastwood and one from Heanor, will then receive a month’s worth of free cake in honour of their efforts.
To nominate a friend or relative to win the Stacey’s Community Hero award, visit www.staceysbakery.co.uk and make your entry via the ‘Contact Us’ button. Deadline for nominations is midday on 01 September 2020.
