As we entered our third national lockdown, we were all feeling a bit glum. We wanted to help lift some spirits in January, so brought back our alternative Sponge Heroes competition, getting you to nominate people who needed a bit of a pick me up. We had so many stories sent to us and we were so happy to be able to send out four Cakes (one each) to the winning nominees and four Cake Cards (one each) to the people that nominated them! We were sent so many nominations again, and everyone was so deserving, in the end we managed to narrow it down once more, and here were the four winners of our January competition:
Our first winner was Gemma, she was nominated by Keeley. Gemma has continued to work and run a busy nursery throughout lockdown three, providing an essential service to key worker parents, and other parents. Gemma and her team go above and beyond to ensure the children have a safe and happy place to be while their parents are working.
Our second winner is Kelly, who was nominated by her colleague Eve. Kelly is an incredible nurse who has mentored many of her colleagues. Over the last year Kelly has been working three jobs, she is a lecturer to health and social care students, continuing to provide education to them (largely over zoom). She has also been working as a covid nurse, providing essential testing in a covid centre, and lastly, she also regularly takes up extra shifts on wards to help out. On top of this she’s continued to look after her family throughout, including her 1-year-old baby.
The third winner in January is Helen, she was nominated by her daughter Shirley. Helen has several life limiting conditions, but despite this she looked after her husband, who she unfortunately lost in June. She has been shielding since March last year, and hasn’t been able to see her family either, and has been grieving while isolating. We hope the cake will lift her spirits somewhat, as her family miss her and care about her a lot.
The fourth and final winners are husband and wife Jamie and Jen, they were nominated by Abby. Jamie is a paramedic and Jen works in a 999 call centre. They have both been working tirelessly under extreme pressure throughout the last year. On top of all of this they are expecting their first child together! We think this amazing couple deserves a pick-me-up.
A sponge cake for 8 will be making its way to all of our winning nominee’s and all of those who nominated them will receive a Cake Card, to say thank you for sending us their wonderful stories!
We’re really looking forward to receiving your nominations for February. If your nominee wasn’t selected this time, you can always send us your stories again for our Sponge Heroes Competition – who knows, your nominee could be our February winner!
All you need to do is email your Sponge Heroes story to us – [email protected]. Make sure you know the nominee's address, so we are able to send them a cake if they win! Read our competition blog to find out more.