August's Lundie Memorial Award goes to Andrew and Daniel Shaw, from St Columba's United Reformed Church (URC), Wolverhampton.

The brothers, aged 15 and 13, are dedicated volunteers at the Community School Swap Shop which is part of the church's eco-church work.

They sort clothes, find and bag up the correct uniform and sizes for people and work at the open sessions helping people find what they're looking for.

With fewer volunteers due to the pandemic, the swap shop has been extremely reliant on the dedication of the brothers who gave up much of their school holidays.

The swap shop has helped kit out more than 240 children in school uniforms over the past year alone.

In the process, it has kept outgrown clothing from going to landfill and reduced the need for new clothing to be manufactured, estimated to have prevented the release of 17.4 tonnes of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, while saving parents around £9,300 especially when the pandemic caused many to be made redundant or furloughed.

Colin Gardener, an Elder of St Columba’s URC who nominated the brothers, said: “Andrew and Daniel go the extra mile to help people. For example, Andrew searches school websites to find out information for people who don't know what uniform they need and Daniel will entertain the smaller children while their parents sort their uniform.

“It's only possible to offer community projects if you have people behind the scenes who are willing to put in time and effort, which Andrew and Daniel really do." 

Find out how you can nominate a young person for a Lundie Memorial Award here.

Published: 7 September 2021