Volunteers honoured by Mayor

Published Tuesday, 15th May 2018

A GROUP of volunteers has been honoured by Hartlepool's Mayor in recognition of their invaluable support for his fundraising activities.

The seven – Scott Straker, Kathleen Straker, Matthew Wintersgill, Luke Ellerton, Jason Anderson, Linda Harvey and Jade Cavanagh – received a certificate from Councillor Paul Beck in a ceremony at Hartlepool Civic Centre.

They have supported Councillor Beck throughout his year in office, helping him to raise more than £17,000 to date for his chosen good causes – MacMillan Cancer Support and The Rifty Youth Project.

“I would just like to say how inspirational and how wonderful each of them has been in helping me to raise such an enormous amount of money.

The Mayor's volunteers

(LEFT-RIGHT) Jason Anderson, Luke Ellerton, Councillor Paul Beck, Matthew Wintersgill, Mrs Mary Beck, Scott Straker, Linda Harvey, Jade Cavanagh and Kathleen Straker.

“It has been a real team effort over the last 12 months and everyone has played a full part. Whenever I have called on them to help they have been there and we will never forget that,” said Councillor Beck who was accompanied by his wife Mary, the Mayoress of Hartlepool.

The volunteers have provided a variety of support, including - in the cases of Scott and Matthew - dressing up as Spiderman and Mayoral mascot Chair Bear respectively at fundraising events.

Councillor Beck also reserved special praise for Jason Anderson for his on-going support of fundraising events and activities via local community radio station Radio Hartlepool.

He added: “These volunteers are great role models. I know there are many other unsung heroes out there too and I would urge as many people as possible to follow their example and get involved in helping good causes in the town.”