Graham Nash from Leeds takes home the title with 39% of the vote.
Earlier this year, we launched our inaugural Local Hero Award, with the view of celebrating tradespeople in your area who had gone above and beyond to help their community during the Covid-19 pandemic.
We have been blown away by the stories of the builders, plumbers, electricians, joiners, gardeners, mechanics etc – who have done so much to help during this difficult time.
We are now happy to reveal that Graham Nash of Pinnacle Builders in Leeds was voted the winner in our public poll (with 39% of the 2,000+ votes).
He will receive a well-deserved prize of £1,000 in cash and a Kielder toolbox worth over £500 - thank you to our friends at Kielder for suppling the fantastic toolbox prize.
Four regional finalists with wonderful stories of their own will also each receive a £250 cash prize.
About Our Winner, Graham Nash
Graham has spent his time during the pandemic correcting shoddy work done by cowboy builders for free, and often found other tradespeople to help too, saving people thousands of pounds and making homes habitable and comfortable again.
Speaking upon receiving the award, Graham said: “I felt honoured to have been nominated in the first place, and now finding out that I have won the overall competition I am overwhelmed.
“The win is a great honour I was nominated by people who relate to what we have been doing, or who have been in a position where they need help themselves due to cowboy builders.
“It’s been a pleasure helping people over the past 12 months and I will continue to do so whenever a homeowner needs help. We will also continue helping people rebuild their homes and lives if they fall foul of cowboy builders.
“We are fundraising in order to help others as we often need to purchase materials - we need funds in order to continue doing what we are doing. It’s not hard to give a little, the world would be a better place to live in if we all did help each other.
“The past 14 months has been hard for everyone; we have seen some amazing people doing extraordinary things. I would like to congratulate the other nominees for their gifts of kindness to help others.
“Our real heroes are our NHS workers, fire fighters, armed forces and police, they are the people who help save lives.”
Our Regional Runners Up
Four regional runners up – who each earned the most votes after Graham - will also receive a £250 cash prize for their amazing work in the community.
They are, in no particular order...
Gordon Graham from GG Property Maintenance, Glasgow, Lanarkshire (Scotland)
Gordon was nominated for going above and beyond to help out customers and friends. He’s been taking his elderly customers for a fish supper, dropping off cakes and pies to office staff in his spare time and generally trying to make sure everyone is okay before himself.
Wayne Bond from Bond Electrical, Newcastle upon Tyne, Northumberland (England)
Wayne was nominated by a customer who felt he had gone above and beyond to help them and their mother during a difficult time. He was very responsive, arrived quickly on the job, fixed it, and then did not charge the customer for the work. He also helped several other elderly customers who were worried and panicked; rushing over to get the job done and saving several people a huge bill.
Jeff Harlow from Jeff Harlow Electrical, Lancaster, Lancashire (England)
Jeff worked long hours helping to get the Nightingale hospital in Manchester set up. He was one of four electricians left to finish up the project and test it. He was leaving home at 5:30am to get to the site, to get the project finished on schedule.
Jamie Scullion from JS Electrical & Property Maintenance, Sevenoaks, Kent (England)
Jamie offered free emergency call outs to NHS staff fighting the Coronavirus. He had a phone call from a couple whose fuse board was tripped, so their cooker wasn’t working. Jamie went around, sorted it, and found out they worked for the NHS when he was talking to them. When they asked him how much it cost, he said ‘nothing’ – he didn’t want to take money from people who were already doing so much to help. At that point he then decided to offer the same thing for all NHS workers who might need an emergency electrician.
Thank You From SGS
As manufacturers and suppliers of air compressors, gas struts, tool chests, power tools, garage equipment, garden tools and much more to the trade, it’s been amazing to read about all the incredible, thoughtful contribution of those working in our industry – the builders, plumbers, electricians, joiners, gardeners, mechanics and more – who have done so much to help out people during this very difficult time.
We would like to thank everyone who submitted a nomination or cast a vote in our Local Hero Awards 2021, and a big congratulations to Graham Nash our overall winner, as well as our four regional runners-up.