We love getting out and about speaking to customers about what’s going on in their communities. And sometimes we meet some proper superstars like Nikky.
Nikky’s been one of our customers for over 25 years, and he’s always one to lend a hand to anyone who needs a bit of help. Sometimes that means organising events to bring people together, and other times it’s togging us up in hi-vis, handing us the litter pickers and leading a tour around the estate! He’s got some great stories, but our favourites are always about the fabulous volunteer work he does.
Nikky’s been volunteering in South Kirkby for over 15 years, and when lockdown hit in 2020 he noticed there was a growing need for a foodbank. Still running to this day, it’s fully funded by the local community and there for anyone who needs it with no questions asked.
His ‘Breakfast Club’ goes down as the first warm space in Wakefield – and maybe also the first to have Santa attending. It’s all about who you know! Every Monday morning Nikky and his team of volunteers open the doors at the community centre for free brews and crumpets, or even just a natter.
And if organising all that doesn’t keep him busy enough, he also takes the reins with a litter picking group each Thursday. Using Facebook community groups, Snapchat and TikTok to round up as many hands as he can get each week, they’ve recently worked out that they’ve picked up a whopping 3.5 tonnes of rubbish since August 2020 (that’s about seven grand pianos!).
Believe it or not, there’s loads more that we haven’t even mentioned, and he’s got some big plans for 2023 including a vision for a much-needed Youth Club to give the younger members of the community a place to come together. To help Nikky with the key work he’s doing, we sorted him out with a laptop and he’s recently enrolled on a course at Kirklees College to learn new computer skills which will help with everything that goes on behind the scenes!
If there’s someone in your community that’s deserves the spotlight, we’d love to hear about them! Get in touch with us.