Debbie is Dundee Citizen of the Year

DEBBIE Findlay has dedicated her life to making sure the neediest in her community are taken care of.

Volunteering in foodbanks, helping patients who are sick with cancer and organising tea dances for the city’s older people are just a snapshot of the work, time and energy she offers.

Now, following a deluge of entries from across the city, she has been named Dundee Citizen of the Year 2018.

She follows last year’s holder George Roberts and previous winners, British Empire Medal recipient Stella Carrington and l ocal businessman Mohammed Issa, into the annals of Dundee history.

Dundee-born and raised, Mrs Findlay, 48, and her husband spent time in Uganda as missionaries, before returning to the city to support people through the Lifegate church.

Mrs Findlay, who also runs a cafe in Whitfield for people suffering from the effects of poverty, said she was “gobsmacked” after being nominated by the very people she set out to help.

She met Lord Provost Ian Borthwick at an announcement ceremony in the city chambers yesterday.

Mr Borthwick said Mrs Findlay shone in a field full of very worthy entrants and thanked everyone who submitted nominations for what was a difficult decision.

In 2014, Mrs Findlay helped set up a cafe in the Whitfield church, which caters for people living in poverty by offering food, grocery parcels and a place of respite.

She has watched it grow since then, from an organisation which catered for fewer than 10 people to one that regularly seats 100 people in need of help.

“We feed between 75-100 people of varying ages every week,” said Debbie. “It is set in a cafe environment so people don’t feel there is a finger pointing at them. ”

As well as helping to run the cafe, she has been integral in the organisation of an older person’s tea dance, giving those in the community who may be suffering from loneliness the chance to meet up with peers and let their hair down.

Mr Borthwick said: “We are all impressed with the work Debbie does.

“There was a very good range of entrants this year.”

Debbie Findlay