ROUND OF APPLAUSE
Praise for shop’s teen delivery team
Blairgowrie and Rattray’s paperboys and girls have been praised for all their hard work and commitment by staff and customers at Mitchell’s Newsagents in the town.
The High Street shop employs 18 young people to deliver newspapers and magazines to homes all over the town and the team has worked throughout the lockdown periods both last year and this year, ensuring that members of the local community continued to receive their deliveries.
And even last week’s blast of wintery weather failed to deter the youngsters, who are aged between 13 and 17 years old, from their duties.
Kevin Donald runs the shop and contacted the Blairie to sing the praises of the local heroes.
He said: “They have been out every day except Christmas Day and New Year and have kept going despite the global pandemic, the national lockdowns, and then last week, the heavy snow and freezing temperatures. “They really are just amazing. “They have supported the shop and the local community, and throughout it all they have stuck to the rules with minimum contact, wearing gloves and face coverings and social distancing.
“The service they provide can sometimes be the only contact some people get in a day if they live alone and is so important in those instances.”
The bad weather experienced by much of the country on Wednesday last week saw many deliveries disrupted, including deliveries of papers to Mitchell’s.
When Kevin was told that there would be no paper deliveries again on the Thursday, he drove to Dundee himself at 4.30am to pick up around 600 papers and magazines for the local community.
He said: “One day without a delivery due to the bad weather was fair enough but we couldn’t let our customers go without any longer than that.
“I picked up the papers in the morning and the kids went out in up to a foot of snow and got them to our customers.
“We’ve had lots of people messaging and phoning the shop to say thank you and how much they appreciate the efforts the kids are making, and we wanted to add our thanks to them as well.
“Throughout the last year, which has been unlike anything any of us has ever experienced, we have stayed open and adapted to support the local community, offering a delivery service for people who have been shielding or self-isolating, as well as the paper deliveries.
“The boys and girls have been fantastic, they are so young and it has been scary for them and a hugely disruptive time too with schools closed and exams cancelled.
“But they have stepped up and been there for others, putting others before themselves.
“Some people have given them a hard time which wasn’t fair, but generally the community can’t praise them enough.
“Young people so often get a bad press or get the blame for things, but they are not all bad as these guys prove every day.
“So many of them have been out in all weathers - literally - going above and beyond to help and support other more vulnerable members of the community.
“And it’s not just our staff either, it’s the young people who work in Tesco, and any of the takeaways and the restaurants when they were allowed to open.
“Their efforts are actually making it easier for other people to stay at home and stick to the guidelines.
“They have just been fantastic and we’re very proud of them, they are a credit to their families and to Blairgowrie and Rattray.”
The boys and girls have been fantastic .... they have stepped up and been there for others, putting others before themselves
Kevin Donald