KINGSWINFORD North and Wall Heath councillor Shaz Saleem has launched an award to recognise local heroes in the community.

The Kingswinford North and Wall Heath Award for Heroes recognises people who have gone out their way to make a positive contribution in Kingswinford North and Wall Heath.

Cllr Saleem said: "The pandemic has really been a challenging time for us all, but now I want to spread positive vibes in our beautiful community and recognising local heroes is a start to that vision.”

The award was launched in July and the aim is to honour someone on a monthly basis.

The first recipient, for July, was Andy Vaughan, from hardware and garden store Decormar, who has supported the Wall Heath community by planting the blue planters around the village and helping to maintain the area.

Andy said he was "truly humbled" to receive the award and he said: "I just get up in the morning and go to work - hopefully serving the local community with essentials to help them with their lives, and I take pride in my job and love to help.

"My wife and kids have been such a big part of this shop in our first 12 months of trading and none of it would work without them.

"It’s a real family concern and being part of village life is massive to me, the small gestures mean so much to people, I’m not in this for the credit, I’m just happy to help and if it makes just a little bit of difference to someone's life then I’m more than happy."

The award has taken pride of place in his shop.

Morrison’s Kingswinford Community Champion Helen Nicholls has been named winner for August, having been nominated for the accolade by a paramedic from Dudley Hub for supporting elderly and vulnerable people with daily deliveries during the lockdowns.

She held regular collections for the foodbank, care homes, schools and nurseries and would often treat staff at Dudley ambulance station.

Helen said she was "overwhelmed and honoured" to receive the recognition and she added: "Throughout the pandemic as a company and throughout my role we prided on helping as many frontline staff as we could. As a community champion I try my best to help and support as many great courses as I can though my role.”

People can nominate someone they think is worthy of recognition for supporting the community of Kingswinford North and Wall Heath by emailing Cllr.shaz.saleem@dudleymbc.org.uk.