Hero Thomas makes community proud

Little litter hero Thomas Hackett is leading the way … now we just need the rest to follow. After we reported yesterday how piles of bashed and broken sledges were left littering slopes in Sunderland, up steps wee Thomas to restore our faith.

There was considerable consternation over the state of our environment after the ‘plastic hell’ on the hills, but eight-year-old Thomas has shown not all youngsters care little for their community.

As we reveal today, Thomas is one of the leading lights in Litter Action, an online community hosted by the Campaign to Protect Rural England aimed as cleaning up communities.

With his dad Steve, Thomas can often be seen hard at work in East Rainton picking up and disposing rubbish from the streets.

And for his efforts Thomas has been given the Houghton Young Hero award run by Northumbria Police and the city council.

Community Support Officer Daniel Hawksby is full of praise for the youngster. He told us: “This monthly award is something small to recognise one of our young people who’ve shown an act of kindness, gone above and beyond or had a special achievement.

“It’s been a difficult year for all our communities, but Thomas has used his time while out walking to keep East Rainton clean of litter and has shown an amazing community spirit beyond his years.”

The community-minded efforts of Thomas are, aptly, a fantastic pick-me-up after this week’s broken sledge debacle.

Well done Thomas, where you lead, the rest should follow...