Trivallis’ Hometown Hero campaign aims to celebrate the stories of people doing good things to help others in their communities, throughout RCT.
This week our hero is Claire John from Maerdy. Despite being a busy working mam and step mam to four boys and a grandmother to two more, Claire is known as Wonder Woman amongst her community for all the support she offers people in times of need; and the COVID-19 pandemic has been no exception.
Ceri Corcoran is a Multiskilled Foreperson at Trivallis and lives in Maerdy, close to Claire. Ceri nominated Claire as her Hometown Hero and said: “She does so much for this community, from fundraising for different charities to organising street parties for the children. She is always the first one to step up if anything goes wrong and she did so much to support the area when we were hit by flooding at the beginning of the year; bringing volunteers together to help with the clean-up of homes and the local primary school.
“Claire is a working mother but always finds time to help out and has been an amazing support to so many during the coronavirus outbreak. I know she never wants anything for her help, but I wanted to nominate her as my Hometown Hero just as a way of saying thank you and to get some recognition for the things she is doing.”
Claire has been supporting vulnerable neighbours by doing shopping for them after her shifts in the local supermarket. She has also led a collection of items for local hospitals for patients and staff.
Claire explained: “I had heard that, because of the pandemic, lots of families were unable to visit their loved ones in hospitals and couldn’t get them things like new pyjamas and slippers or toiletries. I started a collection for these items, and some people donated money so I could purchase more, and then I gave them to nurses I knew that lived locally so they could share them amongst the wards.”
Despite her shifts doubling at the supermarket due to the demand for fresh foods in the community, Claire was always on hand to help when she could.
“I wanted to help out the people in my community that weren’t able to get to the shops for supplies regularly, so I also offered to do shopping for my elderly and vulnerable neighbours. This community has been so good to me and we all help each other out in times of need. I have lived here all my life and I absolutely love it; I just want to give back and help out where I can.” She added.
Claire’s family is very supportive of all her efforts to help people and so are we! We want to say a big thank you Claire, from Trivallis, for the difference you are making to the lives of your neighbours.
If you know a Hometown Hero that you would like to nominate, you can fill out a form, here.
Visit our Hometown Hero Hall of Fame to see the other heroes in our communities, here.