Meet our Local Hero
Honour for River Kids volunteer Matthew
Matthew Stirling, a volunteer at charity River Kids for the last seven years, has collected his West Lothian Local Hero award.
The Local Hero Award, which was set up by the West Lothian Courier and The Cent re, Livingston, in the summer of 2016, is designed to recognise and reward people in the community who have dedicated their time to helping others in the community.
One of Matthew’s many roles at River Kids is to collect donated Christmas toys and deliver them to West Lothian’s most disadvantaged children, including everything from selection boxes and books to jigsaws and toiletry gift sets.
Matthew was presented with certificate and a £100 Gift Card courtesy of The Centre, Livingston.
He said: “Receiving this Local Hero Award has been a real honour and something I definitely didn’t expect. I help out at River Kids in every way I can as I really enjoy it and never in a million years did I expect to receive an award for it. This is a role I will continue to do for as long as I can as I know firsthand how much of a difference these donations can make to a youngster’s life, especially things like games and toiletry gift sets at this time of year, which is what I plan to spend my prize on.”
Ashley Bisland, deputy centre director at The Centre, said: “On behalf of everyone at The Centre, Livingston we would like to congratulate Matthew on winning our Local Hero Award this month, which was hugely deserved. His time and effort helping out at River Kids is commendable and wholeheartedly worthy of this award.”
If you would like to donate to River Kids charity, visit http:// www. riverkids. org. uk. To nominate for the Local Hero Award send an email with the details to debbie.hall@trinitymirror.com.