Community heroes step into spotlight
It was an extra-special occasion when Hamilton’s Christmas lights were switched on at the weekend.
Instead of pulling in a celebrity to push the button and light up the town, the public got the chance to nominate their community heroes.
A competition run by organisers Hamilton Our Town (Hamilton Business Improvement District) allowed locals to vote for those who went above and beyond over the past year.
That saw Tracy Mcdonald of community group I Spy A Rainbow, and Sean Boyd of Helping Hands Hamilton take the stage on Saturday evening.
The pair were joined by South Lanarkshire Council Provost Ian Mcallan, who thanked them for their efforts before the big countdown began.
Tracy’s group I Spy A Rainbow proved to be a vital pillar of support since the Covid-19 pandemic began as she organised regular activities and gifts for children to keep them entertained during lockdowns.
She was joined on stage by her daughter Miryn, seven, who she paid special tribute to for helping her daily behind the scenes.
Tracy said: “It was such an honour to be invited to switch the lights on behalf of I Spy A Rainbow Hamilton.
“The group was a huge success during lockdown. We helped bring smiles to our local community through organised weekly activities, children received games/ toys each week for participating.
“Each week we did something different to keep the children entertained. We also did a treasure hunt, highlighting local business and landmarks.
“The team also delivered hundreds of birthday cakes and gifts to the children of Hamilton during these difficult times too.
“There was such a great atmosphere on Saturday, so many things for people to do and lots of amazing entertainment. It was great to see so many people come together for such an amazing event.”
Also nominated for his work with charity group Helping Hands Hamilton, Sean was privileged to be on stage to turn on the lights alongside Tracy and Miryn.
The community hero set up an online charity page with his partner Letitia to help those less fortunate in the area, organising donations of household items, food and toys for children before delivering them all over the town. He has also put on numerous events to entertain kids at Halloween, Christmas and lots more.
Sean told us: “I was pretty surprised when I received a call from Malcolm from Hamilton BID.
“When he explained he ran a competition for people to nominate local heroes to turn on the lights this year and then asked if me and Letitia would like to go up and turn them on, I was shocked.
“I was born and raised in Hamilton, everything I do from helping people to cleaning the place up I do for our town so to do something as big as turn on the Christmas lights in front of all those people was an honour.
“It felt amazing to see people recognising the things we’ve done over the past two years and things like this put a big smile on our faces and gave us the drive to continue what we’re doing.
“I’m not looking for people to recognise me but I would like others to recognise and realise anyone can do what I do.”