Here for the heroes
Unsung volunteers in running for award
Meet the fabulous unsung heroes shortlisted for a Scotland’sChampionsMaking a Difference Award.
From a mum keeping the internet safe after the loss of her daughter to suicide and a group championing the rights of care home residents to pals who made a mercy aid dash to the Ukraine border – they’re all remarkable.
But there can only be one winner and today we are asking readers to go online and vote for their favourite in this special category sponsored by Specsavers.
Arlene Stephenson Scotland divisional chair of Specsavers said: “The nominations made our job to select finalists difficult. I’m sure the people of Scotland will have a tough time choosing a winner ass theythey’re re really worthy of the title.” e.”
Care Home Relatives Scotland Group
The aim of this group is to bring together people with lovedved ones in residential and nursing homes.
When the Cov id-19 pandemic hit in March 2020,, r e s t r ict ionss meant lots off people weree unable to visitit husbands, wives,es, mums, dads andnd other relatives..
Brought together by socialcial media, the group,oup, l ed by Cathihiee Russel l , whosehose mother died last year, worked with the Governmentent and opposition politicians and achieved significant improvements to the original visiting guidance.
They went on to provide a voice for care home residents and relatives and, along with the Sunday Mail, were instrumental in driving through Anne’s Law which recognises that care home residents should have the same rights as those living in the community.
The law is named after Anne Duke, a 63-year- old home care therapist, whose plight inspired a Sunday Mail campaign.
Anne passed away last year but her husband Campbell and daughter
Natasha kept fighting for the law change which w i l l enshr ine visiting rights for care home residents regardless of lockdowns.
Ruth Moss, 50, Edinburgh
Since 2014, Ruth has been a tireless voluvolunteer for the NSPCC – dedicated to ppromoting online safety among younyoung people.
ShShe was spurred into action after losing daughter Sophie, 13, to suicide.
Sophie’s death at the family home in Liff, near Dundee, in 2014 came after a long battle with mental health issues, a history of self- harming and two previous suicide attempts – which Ruth says were not taken seriously enough by CAMHS (Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services).
Ruth has been heavily involved with the NSPCC’s Wild West Web campaign, raising awareness of the need for social networks to have a duty of care towards young users. She has spoken to the media, at roundtable events and at press briefings in a bid to stop other families having to suffer the loss of a child.
Ruth has also raised more than £19,000 for Childline via a tribute fund in memory of Sophie.
Piotr Dziedzic, 43, Kelso, Roxburghshire & Robert Dluzak, 49, Eyemouth, Berwickshire
When the war between Russia and
Ukraine began, Polish-born Piotr and Robert knew they had to help.
Piotr, who worked in a restaurant in Kelso, and Robert, who has a laundry in Berwick, put out an appeal for donations of clothes, blankets and provisions to take to the stricken country.
They then hired a van and drove the supplies 1500 miles to the Polish/ Ukraine border where they handed them out to hundreds of people who had been forced to flee their homes.
During their two-week stay, they helped out in a sports hall which had been turned into a shelter.
Robert said: “On our way back to Poland when we hit the border control on the Ukrainian side, someone came and knocked on my window and a man was asking to take his family over the border. It was his wife and two children. A boy around 10 and a little baby, probably a girl. It was a heartbreaking moment, seeing them say goodbye. It was an experience I’ve never had before and I can see them still.”