Local unsung heroes of the Covid pandemic honoured with new Somerset Medal
Dedicated volunteers from Burnham-On-Sea and Highbridge are among some of Somerset’s many unsung Coronavirus heroes who have been named as winners of the first ever Somerset Medal.
The Somerset Medal has been launched by Somerset County Council to say a heartfelt thank-you to the ‘best of the best’, with the winners announced on Somerset Day.
They include vaccination volunteers, food deliverers, PPE producers, pop-up shop keepers and a whole host of other good Samaritans who all went above and beyond to make sure Somerset kept going during the pandemic.
THREE women in Bridgwater have been sharing their experiences of the pandemic in support of International Women’s Day (March 8). Kate Gardiner, from Purple Spoon Events, set up the Purple Spoon Cafe in the YMCA building in Bridgwater in 2017. She started a gofundme page when lockdown hit and managed to cook around 8,000 meals for the community. “When things return to the new normal, of course we need to resume the commercial side of running the business to pay salaries,” said Kate. “But we will also be more committed than ever to supporting those in need. “If lockdown has taught me anything, it’s how important it is to reach out to your local community.”
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Center Court Rewind: In 1995 and ’96, the Cony girls spent two years on a mission
After being denied by Lawrence, the Rams got their shot and took the state by storm.
Paul Vachon had to laugh.
The topic was his Cony girls basketball teams from 1994-95 and 95-96, the question was whether he and his players could detect the animosity from the crowds in front of which they played, and Vachon chuckled as if he can still hear the noise.
“That’s an understatement,” he said. “Did I sense it? Oh my God, did I sense it. And what we would do is basically say ‘girls, let’s just play. They don’t know what we’ve gone through. They don’t know the hard practices we’ve had. They don’t know the pressure we’ve been under.