Morrisons supermarket in Johnstone has handed four awards to community heroes to celebrate Moments of Hope.
Julie Scott, community champion at the branch had the honour of presenting the honours.
There are four categories to the award, and they all spell out the powerful word – HOPE. The categories are Hero Award, Organisation Award, People’s Choice Award, and the Eco-warrior Award.
The awards are presented to those who have went above and beyond when it comes to helping within their local community.
Don't miss the latest headlines from around Renfrewshire. Sign up to our newsletters here.
Rachel McCrystal, nine, took home the Hero Award by doing a sponsored walk to raise funds for her school. Rachel has low muscle tone, but that did not stop her powering along to achieve her goals.
Julie Scott said: “Rachel did a sponsored walk from Milliken Park train station to Johnstone train station. That might not seem a lot to us, but to Rachel, it is a milestone.
"She has raised over £2,000 to go towards her school.”
The Organisation Award went to Alex McAnespie who works hard to provide accommodation and offer support for those who have served in the Armed Forces through his charity organisation, Homeless Veterans Project.
When Alex, who is a veteran himself, hears about a veteran on the street, he will help them get off the street and in to temporary accommodation until they can be placed into permanent accommodation. Alex will also point people in the right direction to get help with living costs.
Jean Gallagher was awarded the People’s Choice Award in recognition of her youth group work within the community.
Julie explained: “I asked the community to vote to see who they thought deserved an award and the name who came back to me was Jean Gallagher who runs a youth centre up at Johnstone Castle.
"She started off with one child during lockdown, but now has around 70 children at her door looking for something to keep them occupied.
“She goes out of her way to organise events for the children such as fundraising days and computing courses.”
When it came to the Eco-warrior award, Julie had no doubts that Andy Davis - who keeps his neighbourhood clean and tidy by picking up litter several times a day, even on his lunch breaks - should take home the award.
She said: “He has been working from home during covid, but due to health reasons he was furloughed for a while, and it was during this time that he took to the streets to do litter picking.
"He is out there, and he is bringing nature back as well. Nature is coming back now that he is picking up the litter and keeping the local areas clean and tidy.”
Julie is grateful for everyone and all their work within their communities.
Click here for more information: Morrison Johnstone’s Community Page .
Download the FREE Renfrewshire Live app now for all the latest news, features and sport in your area. Available on both Android and Apple. D ownload here: smarturl.it/RenfrewLiveSocial
