Gwent community heroes who stepped up during the pandemic

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AS WE look forward to 2021, we're paying tribute to the stories of those across Gwent who helped during the turbulant year we've just left behind.

In March, the UK went into a national lockdown – non-essential shops were shut, families were no longer allowed to meet, and coronavirus raged through the country.

However, there were still people offering a glimmer of hope and optimism by making scrubs for the NHS, delivering hot meals to the vulnerable and so much more.

Here are some of our community heroes:

Takeaways provided free meals to the vulnerable

Back in March, Paprika Indian Takeaway, King Kebab and N&B Cash and Carry appealed for volunteers to help deliver meals to vulnerable people in the city - including elderly people and the homeless.

The food was provided free of charge and one of the organisers, Shaz Miah, said they received an "overwhelming response from the community at large".

Newport businesses delivered free meals to Royal Gwent Hospital

Two Newport businesses teamed up in March to show their support for frontline NHS staff working at the Royal Gwent Hospital.

Dragon Taxis and Shoboraj Bangladeshi and Indian take away delivered more than 100 free curries to the hospital over two nights as a thank you for the hard work they are putting in during the coronavirus outbreak.

Jack Price, general manager of Dragon Taxis Newport and Torfaen, and Sonny Miah, owner of Shoboraj, delivered 60 curries and £200 of free taxi vouchers to staff at the hospital.

Gwent sci-fi author made masks to protect health workers

During the start of the pandemic, there were global shortages of the equipment medics and carers needed to protect themselves against Covid-19.

After seeing the pleas of a local GP on Facebook for protective equipment to shield her from coronavirus, sci-fi author Michael Thomas and his partner Pamela Jary set about using their 3D printer to create the masks free of charge.

Newport woman smashed fundraising target to help NHS staff

Abbie Merrett set up the fundraiser to help re-supply Aneurin Bevan University Health Board's staff with vital equipment needed to tackle the Covid-19 coronavirus outbreak.

And one week later, Ms Merrett, from Bettws, said she was overjoyed at the "amazing" response from members of the public and raised £2,000 in just seven days.

Covid-19 patients in ICU could stay in touch with loved ones thanks to Newport businessman

Patients in the Royal Gwent Hospital's intensive care unit faced long and lonely period of quarantine – but Dario Oliver started a fundraiser to buy the hospital several iPads, which quarantined patients are using to make video calls to their families and maintain vital social contact.

Mr Oliver, 29, was "delighted" by the response from members of the public, who helped him smash his £1,000 target in just two days.

A 17-year-old student used her week's wages to buy chocolates for NHS staff

Aleece, from Ebbw Vale said she "really wanted to give something back as a way to say thanks" and used her week’s wages to buy boxes of chocolates for paramedics and other frontline NHS staff.

The student, who found herself with extra hours spare due to college closures and cancelled driving lessons, picked up additional shifts in her local Iceland, Ebbw Vale.

And after taking home a bigger pay packet than usual, she chose to spend her normal wage on chocolates for our NHS heroes.

Caerphilly women made scrubs for NHS staff

Ann Ap Iorwerth, Thornaporn Moya, and Mia Beechey joined forces virtually back in April to make scrubs for NHS staff from their homes as part of the group For The Love Of Scrubs.

Ms Beechey set up a GoFundMe page, which raised over £500, to help cover the costs of the fabrics.

A community group delivered hundreds of meals and entertained a town

Caldicot Community Working Together, formed in 2018 by Rachel Furmage, worked with the town council, local restaurants, and others to make sure no-one in the town felt isolated during the first national lockdown.

Among a variety of activities put on by countless volunteers for the group, the team organised the cooking and delivery of hundreds of meals, an Easter Eggs-elent Adventure for the town's children, as well as virtual music events and quizzes.

Newport mosque teamed up with city businesses to donate food to NHS and emergency services

Worshippers at Shahporan Bangladeshi Jame Mosque, in Hereford Street in Maindee, delivered hundreds of meals to the Royal Gwent Hospital, Gwent Police Station, and St Cadocs Hospital, among others, with the help of Shahinoor Indian Takeaway and Eco Foods Ltd.

Chefs at Shahinoor cooked the meals, while staff at Eco Foods provided the produce, with eight members of the mosque delivering the food.

A man from Rogiet made vital personal protective equipment at his girlfriend's coffee shop

Tom Dawe is part of a group of four skilled volunteers working for Creo Medical Ltd who made PPE for critical workers and vulnerable people across the country. He carried out the work from Donnie's Coffee Shop in Magor - which is owned by his girlfriend Natalie Whild.

While designer and trainee engineer Mr Dawe took on the mammoth task of producing as many items as possible for people in south Wales and Gwent, fellow Creo employees Tom Campbell, Julie Forde, and Ilan Davies also produced PPE for people across all of Wales.

Girl, nine, raised money to buy presents for care home where great-grandfather lives

Mali Dissanayake, from Brynmawr, raised more than £80 by selling handmade ‘Thank You NHS’ posters to her friends, relatives, and their colleagues. She then used that money to buy toiletries for people living at the town’s Brynwood care home.

Her mother, Kylie Dissanayake, praised her “unbelievable” daughter for her determination and community spirit.

Blackwood friends ran 30-hour relay and raised £6,500 for Gwent NHS charity

The friends took part from as far afield as Australia and California, all originally from Blackwood. Each ran for one hour to complete an almost 200-mile journey.

In doing so, they raised more than £6,000 for the Aneurin Bevan Local Health Board Charitable Fund.

Lloyd Exton, 34, from Blackwood, said the idea came about as a number of the group had family members working in frontline NHS services.

A Cwmbran couple created a popular virtual quiz to keep people entertained during lockdown

Rhys Bain, 32 and Hannah Wells, 30, had the idea to start a ‘Quarantine Quiz' every Sunday on Facebook as they would usually take part in a quiz at their local pub every week.

They raised money for NHS Charities Together, and around 30 families took part each Sunday.

A Newport man cheered up kids by dressing up as colourful characters

Mike Harmon, general manager of The Llanwern Bull, is used to putting on events with a variety of mascots on a regular basis - but, due to the coronavirus lockdown and being put on furlough, he had not been able to.

So instead, he donned the costumes himself and walked around the Glan Llyn estate, where the pub is located, to entertain children stuck indoors - and raise cash for the NHS.

A Newport teenager with more than five million YouTube views raised money for the NHS

David Romanowski, 14, shoots weekly videos where he films himself “unpacking” FIFA Ultimate Team (FUT) cards – and his most watched video has more than five million views.

He recruited the help of his subscribers to raise money for the NHS by filming himself learning 24 kills in 24 hours.

Feed Newport and city's takeaways delivered food parcels to the vulnerable

Feed Newport CIC, which helps the city's vulnerable to get back on their feet, delivered over 300 food parcels across the city with the help of donations and community partnerships during the first lockdown.

They would cook 35 meals for one day a week, for a month for anyone in need. The meals were delivered across the city by volunteers.

A Newport family made more than 250 scrub bags for key workers

Lisa and Lewis Hodge, with help from their son Morgan, seven, and daughter Annalise, five, made more than 250 lots of hats, headbands, scrubs, bags, and ear savers for the key workers.

“I started this because my brother is a doctor in intensive care in Leicester. I made him a few bags to keep him safe and then thought about how I could help the frontline workers in Newport,” said Mrs Hodge.

Business owner donated gift bags to expecting mums at the Royal Gwent

Lauren James, owner of Ruby Lou’s Boutique in Newport, put together the bags full of essential items for expecting mothers from her own baby boutique – such as bibs, soft hairbrush, new-born clothes and more.

“I recently became a mum for the third time myself just before lockdown started, so I really do understand how people are feeling and not being able to show your baby to family and friends,” she added.

Newport teen organised an online pub quiz to raise money for city food bank

Poppy Stowell-Evans decided she wanted to raise money for the charity after hearing they were struggling to put together food parcels for the city’s most in need – and raised more than £400 for the Raven House Trust.

“I was getting frustrated that people were struggling because of coronavirus and the lockdown,” said Miss Stowell-Evans. “I wanted to do something to help, as I realised, I was in a very fortunate position living in a house with access to food.

Teachers at a Newport school made PPE for care homes

Steve Smith and Lloyd Griffiths of the Design and Technology department at Newport High School began making adjustable face visors to give to staff at care homes near the end of April. They manufactured approximately 700 of them, with the first batch delivered to Llantarnam Lodge.

It started as the school ran a campaign called #NHSfortheNHS (Newport High School for the NHS) where they sent a host of activities, materials, and musical performances to care homes in Newport and surrounding.

Postal workers weekly dress-ups raised money for good causes

The posties - based at Pontypool sorting office - began to dress up on Fridays to do their rounds and raise money for the Noddfa Church in Abersychan after a break-in two weeks ago.

On Friday, May 23, the group raised a total of £1,601 for Guide Dogs for the Blind as superheroes, cheerleaders, hot dogs, Snow White, and Goofy, and even a mayor delivered post throughout Blaenavon and Griffithstown.