Community hero award for caring shopkeeper Rekz
Charity champion recognised for free food lifeline
A Paisley shopkeeper who’s been keeping his community fridge and cabinet open for Buddies in need during lockdown has received a special community award for his efforts.
Rekz Afzal temporarily suspended the lifeline source of free food from his Moss Street convenience shop to make sure he complied with strict government guidelines on social distancing.
But he opened it up again in early April and it’s been a welcome supply of fresh food ever since for those in need during these difficult times.
As a recognition of what he’s done for the community during lockdown, he was nominated for and won a PayPoint Community Hero Award.
Rekz, 35, said: “PayPoint is a service we have which lets people pay their bills.
“There are 28,000 stores across the UK with it.
“My rep nominated us for the work we’ve done during lockdown with the community fridge and the cabinet.
“It’s fantastic to have received this, to be recognised by such a big company.
“It puts Paisley on the map again.” During May, PayPoint has nominated a retailer every week to receive the special hero award.
Rekz received a certificate and £500 for a charity of his choice.
He said he’ll donate his £ 500 to the Eat Up charity which he’s been working with.
Rekz has been running the community fridge for two years and eight months.
He started it off the back of the government bringing in its Universal Credit scheme and noticing his customers were struggling to pay for things.
He said lockdown has made things even harder for many people. “Lockdown has seen a higher demand for things,” he said.
“We have a lot of volunteers coming round to pick things up.
“On the convenience side, we are down about 40 per cent in takings in comparison to normal.
“We have had some business support from the government which has been welcome.
“We hope that doing the good thing right now will get people coming back once things are back to normal.
“We are a small business, we need to look after the community.”
Anyone who wants to donate to the community fridge and cabinet, including things like spare tinned goods, pasta, noodles, rice, coffee and tea, can drop them off at the store during business hours.
Donations are warmly welcomed.
It’s fantastic to have received this, to be recognised by such a big company. It puts Paisley on the map