TWO community heroes have been awarded the highest honour in their town for supporting the victims of Storm Arwen’s power outage and collecting donations for the people fleeing the Ukraine conflict.

John Gibson and Jayne McKie received the Stanley Town Council Mayor’s Award on Monday (May 16) from Mayor, Olga Milburn – after becoming pillars of the community for vulnerable people, both at home and in Ukraine.

At the end of last year, when Storm Arwen battered the North East, leading to thousands of properties to lose power and countless communities being plunged into darkness, the charitable pair rallied around to deliver a vital service for those affected in nearby Blackhouse.

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For a week, John and Jayne set up the community hall as a central point to offer hot drinks and food to those most in need, as well as helping where they could to get homes reconnected to the central power network.

However, this was just the start of their charity efforts.

After the Ukraine conflict ramped up in February of this year, the pair had no second thoughts in setting up their local village hall to collect donations for the people fleeing their war-torn country in Ukraine.

The Northern Echo: Jayne, John and Stanley Mayor, Olga Milburn. Picture: SARAH CALDECOTT.Jayne, John and Stanley Mayor, Olga Milburn. Picture: SARAH CALDECOTT.

Since setting up the charitable effort, John and Jayne have managed to collect 20 vans worth of donations – which have been directly delivered to Poland on articulated wagons.

Not only that – the pair have helped settle a refugee family in the County Durham community recently – helping where they can with clothes, donations and other charitable help.

The Northern Echo: John, Jayne and the Ukrainian refugee family that have settled in Stanley. Picture: JOHN GIBSON.John, Jayne and the Ukrainian refugee family that have settled in Stanley. Picture: JOHN GIBSON.

Following the awarding of the Mayor’s accolade, the charity ‘heroes’ are overwhelmed by the attention from the community, having not found out about the award before receiving it on Monday.

Mr Gibson said: “In Storm Arwen, we helped where we could. It was raining torrentially; it was cold for everyone – and it was inspiring to see the community rally around for one another.

The Northern Echo: The charitable pair have helped during Storm Arwen and Ukraine crisis. Picture: JOHN GIBSON.The charitable pair have helped during Storm Arwen and Ukraine crisis. Picture: JOHN GIBSON.

“After the damage of Storm Arwen, the Ukraine conflict came along, and it was a no brainer to get involved.

“The Craghead Past and Present social media group have been integral to helping. Even now, people are continuing to send things in daily. We’re still spending eight hours dealing with donations, and it’s heartening to see.”

The Northern Echo: Just some of the donations that John and Jayne have sorted out. Picture: JOHN GIBSON.Just some of the donations that John and Jayne have sorted out. Picture: JOHN GIBSON.

Now that they have landed the award, the two are feeling “incredibly proud” as well as a little “astounded”.

Mr Gibson added: “The response has been phenomenal – Aldi have helped with the Ukraine crisis efforts, and I’m thankful to everyone from the community that has donated.

“We’re a little astounded and it makes us feel very proud.”

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