Shrewsbury vaccine volunteer whose mother died of Covid is rewarded with luxury break
A volunteer from Shrewsbury has been recognised for his commitment to supporting the county’s Covid vaccination rollout effort after he lost his own mother to the virus.
Steve Wright, 48, was awarded with a luxury three-night stay at Love2Stay Resort in Emstrey, as a thank you for the time he had donated to the programme.
Community Resource, formerly known as Shropshire Rural Communities Charity (RCC), led on the recruitment and coordination of the team of volunteers, which resulted in over 900 people supporting vaccination and rapid testing centres in Shrewsbury, Telford, Oswestry and Ludlow.
Steve was presented with his award by the Lord-Lieutenant of Shropshire, and Community Resource patron, Anna Turner at the charity’s AGM earlier this month.
AGM attendees heard how Steve was inspired to volunteer after losing his mum to Covid in 2020, and how he had given almost 500 hours of his free time to the Shrewsbury vaccination centre, which was based at the Indoors Bowls Club on Sundorne Road.
Steve said: "I am thrilled to win this prize and am really looking forward to experiencing a stay here. Volunteering at the vaccination centre in Shrewsbury has truly been the most rewarding time of my life.
"Thank you to everyone at Community Resource for setting this up and being so supportive."
Julia Baron, CEO at Community Resource, said: “I’m delighted that after all his hard work, Steve and his family will be able to enjoy a well-earned break at Love2Stay.
“We have been incredibly fortunate to have hundreds of volunteers just like Steve, who have given their time and dedication to this once-in-a-lifetime effort, so I would like to say a big thank you to each and every one of them.”
Steve and four other Covid vaccine volunteers were selected at random by Community Resource to receive a thank you prize.
All the charity’s volunteers who helped at the vaccine and testing centres will receive a commemorative badge in recognition of the role they played in making the vaccination and testing programmes a success.
The badge design has been inspired by a new publicly-funded sculpture supported by the Lord-Lieutenant of Shropshire that recognises the pandemic's impact on the people of Shropshire, which will be going on display at Shrewsbury Abbey next year.
