A STRING of awards have been handed out to residents and businesses carrying out acts of kindness during the coronavirus pandemic.

Teacher Jackie Aggett and her friend Chris Jones have been awarding people in Goytre with window stickers as a thank you for their work.

Thirty stickers, similar to the Food Hygiene certificates, were created with 19 dished out already.

Some of the people to receive awards include a five-year-old girl who has been litter picking and a 12-year-old girl who has raised £525 for the NHS.

Jackie explained: “I am a teacher and therefore, a key worker, however since lockdown I have been working from the safety of my home.

“Although I am classed as a key worker it occurred to me pretty soon into lockdown that there are a great number of people both residents and visitors, who are going the extra mile during these difficult times to support the residents of our village.

‘‘Either because they are still working as usual, when many of us are shielding; because their acts of kindness and consideration have gone beyond usual expectations of thoughtfulness or because they have had to totally adapt their business to serve the community and remain afloat.”

She said: “I decided that these people deserved an award of some kind, recognition for their efforts as it were.

“I floated this idea to my friend Chris Jones with the idea of producing a window sticker which people could display at home or in their place of work.”

And she added: “Chris then contacted a printer and had 30 of these stickers made.

“I posted my intentions on our village Facebook page and, since then, we have been visiting people, awarding them for their efforts.

“So far, we have awarded many varied individuals and businesses who have all been taken a back and delighted to have been acknowledged.”

*This is a fantastic idea and shows how communities are pulling together during this crisis - do you have a similar tale about people going the extra mile in your village?

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