A three-year-old boy has received his first wages after he helped gas engineers near his home as he went to and from nursery.
Jack McDonough watched keenly when workers from Cadent Gas and BCH Civils were working outside his house in the Childwall area of Liverpool.
Having brought out cups of tea and chatting to engineers Simon, Dave, Ian, Andy and James while he was on his way to and from nursery, the three-year old was rewarded with his own hard hat, high vis jacket and his first ever pay packet.
Jack's mum Steph told Liverpool Echo : "He just loves anything and everything to do with construction so, on the way to and from nursery every day, he went to say hello to them and they would say hello back.
"He was just in heaven and the fact that they were so kind to him - we stood on our wall and just watched them dig for about an hour - they were just talking to him every day.
"They would involve him and talk to him - they were just really kind, asking him about his day at nursery.
"We gave him some cups of tea and biscuits to take out when they were working outside ours because they were so kind to him."
Jack's involvement and interest in their work paid dividends.
Steph added: "One day as we were walking down to nursery, one of the engineers said that he would come and knock on later because they had a gift for him.
"It was a little hard hat, a gift bag, a little high vis jacket and a wage packet with £20 in for him to say thank you for being so helpful.
"It was just lovely - it absolutely made his day.
"They had been so kind to him the whole time but that was above and beyond."
Compensated for his labour and with his interest in construction bolstered further, Jack still keeps an eye out for his colleagues, who Steph said left a lasting impact on him.
She added: "Now whenever he sees anyone in an outfit that’s sort of similar, he’ll say ‘there’s my friends’."
Though he has not yet started primary school, Steph says Jack's heart is set on a career in engineering.
She added: "Whenever we take him out and there are roadworks, he makes us drive the way of the roadworks so that he can watch them.
"He absolutely loves it. Our house is full of construction-related toys.
"He’s got a ride-on excavator that he goes out and ‘digs’ with, so to have them outside our house was amazing. "
Jenny Moten, North West Network Director, Cadent, said: “This all went a bit under the radar - the team didn’t go looking for any praise, they just wanted to make Jack’s day.
"So it was lovely to hear Jack’s parents speak so highly of them.
"Let’s hope we can maintain Jack’s interest and have him a fully-fledged member of the team in years to come.”
