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MEET WIRRAL ' S HIGH STREET HEROES
When Wirral Council invited members of the public to nominate their ‘ High Street Heroes ’, suggestions poured in for hundreds of independent shops that went above and beyond during lockdown . The nominations proved how small businesses are the beating heart of Wirral ’ s communities , delivering food and essentials to shielding residents while providing a cheerful face during testing times .
“ They are such a credit to the community . They get involved in schemes such as cleaning and planting beautiful flowers and have also invited local children to draw paintings to brighten up their shop windows . They have a heart of gold ”. Lianda
Baker Street , Bromborough
After the difficult time they have been through , there is no doubt that all Wirral ’ s businesses deserve to be labelled ‘ High Street Heroes ’ but 17 have been chosen to be the face of the new campaign , encouraging residents to support their local businesses . So please take your hat off to Wirral ’ s ‘ High Street Heroes ’...
Neil & Maria Kershaw Newsagents , Egremont
Neil and Maria Kershaw epitomised the ‘ can do ’ spirit that many of Wirral ’ s businesses demonstrated when faced with a global pandemic . The convenience store on King Street did fundraising and teamed up with local group Foodfight to get goods from supermarkets that were either short-dated or slightly damaged , which they distributed for free to residents who were struggling . Owner Neil said : “ It was a fantastic team effort . We even received a £ 500 donation from a local resident who wanted to do their ‘ bit ’. Gestures like this have invigorated our efforts to help our great community ”.
The owner of Baker Street , James Fielding , missed out on seeing his first child being born as he wasn ’ t allowed to visit the hospital due to COVID restrictions . It proved to be the only delivery he missed during lockdown though . He said : “ When I got the call on a Monday morning to say I had a son , I was in the shop preparing another batch of home deliveries ! The idea came about after an elderly customer came in for a loaf of bread but had a couple of heavy bags of shopping with her . I offered to drop her shopping off , gave her my number and said if she needed anything else , to ring me . She handed my number out to a lot of her neighbours and soon we were delivering to everyone in the sheltered living where she lived ! It was a real pleasure to work through lockdown , to help my local community ”.
“ They didn ' t just do bread and delicious cakes , they got in toilet roll and hand sanitiser when nowhere else had them ! A real gem ”. Ann
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