A sea scout group that has made and distributed more than 1,800 face shields and two women who arranged food boxes and calls to the vulnerable have been nominated as community champions during the pandemic - but do you also know someone who has gone the extra mile during these difficult times?

From collecting shopping and donations to running errands and raising money, the challenges of the last year have brought the very best out in certain people.

Individuals and groups have gone out of their way to help others, selflessly donating their time and energy to support friends and neighbours.

There are real heroes out there and we don't want their good deeds to go unnoticed.

In fact, we want to reward them by shining the spotlight on their acts of kindness.

First, we need your help.

Drop us a line below and tell us who you're nominating as a community champion.

Give us their name and tell us what they've done to help, support and inspire you and others.

Describe what makes them special and we'll showcase their wonderful efforts in our print and online editions.

If you have a picture, even better.

Send it to us using the link below.

Community answers

Who is your community champion?

"Who has gone the extra mile to help in the pandemic? What have they done to help, support and inspire others? Tell us about them"

We asked for your responses - this is what you sent.

From Karen Turturici

What is the name of the person you are nominating?Paul Turturici

What area/town do they live?Watford

What have they done to help, support or inspire you or others during the pandemic?Paul has worked all through the virus.

What makes them special?Paul has shown his strength and kindness during the virus at a residential home, losing residents has been very hard as the virus has taken them. Paul and his colleagues have shown amazing strength.

From Enoch Kanagaraj

What is the name of the person you are nominating?Pam Robertson

What area/town do they live?Watford

What have they done to help, support or inspire you or others during the pandemic?Pam is cooking for One Vision who had crossed 100,000 hot meals in last 10 months, serving our Watford community. She gives her time to plan and cook 100s of meals daily. Many weeks she has stayed and cooked for emergency food for children across 22 schools, one vision serves.

What makes them special?She is dedicated and thinks for the long term how to tackle food poverty, by creating simple recipes and helps with food bank.

Attach a photo of that person

Hillingdon Times: Pam RobertsonPam Robertson
Hillingdon Times: Pam RobertsonPam Robertson

From Sally

What is the name of the person you are nominating?Gary O Brian

What area/town do they live?Watford

What have they done to help, support or inspire you or others during the pandemic?Gary has gone out of his way to support young adults with special needs during the pandemic, making sure they can still have the support they desperately need . This has included not sending his son back to school so that he can continue his work and make the bubble is as secure as possible.

What makes them special?'Happy Gary' we all call him. He is full of life and making young adults with special needs lives worth living during such a stressful and confusing time for them . He is selfless in every way.

Attach a photo of that person

Hillingdon Times: Gary and myaGary and mya
Hillingdon Times: Gary ChristmasGary Christmas

From Gemma Brown

What is the name of the person you are nominating?Suren Vis

What area/town do they live?Watford

What have they done to help, support or inspire you or others during the pandemic?He is always the first to offer help such a kind man

What makes them special?Suren has donated so many sweet boxes to various hospitals to keep them going through this difficult time. He also delivers to home carers and people who have been poorly trying to lift their spirits

From Community contributor

What is the name of the person you are nominating?14th Bushey and Oxhey sea scout group and excalibur explorer unit

What area/town do they live?South oxhey

What have they done to help, support or inspire you or others during the pandemic?Between the group of young people and adults they made and distributed over 1800 face shields during the pandemic. They allowed a local food distribution team to use their hut to store and sort supplies and leaders helped distribute the parcels at no cost. They continued Zoom sessions for the young people when they couldn't be face to face and safe distanced meetings when they could. The group also lent the Round Table a generator to keep Santa going to bring cheer to community and also delivered sandwiches to NHS staff.

What makes them special?As I have said above. They did all this while still keeping an active scouting programme online and face to face for the young people, including camps at home.

From Victoria clarke

What is the name of the person you are nominating?Siobhan Burleigh & Rebecca Player

What area/town do they live?Watford

What have they done to help, support or inspire you or others during the pandemic?They set up and ran the Watford and Bushey Covid-19 group. Managing us as volunteers and working with the Watford & Three Rivers Trust, they arranged food boxes and calls. They extended their support to cover a majority of Herts

What makes them special?They were friendly and never seemed stressed. I volunteered up until July of last year and they were great people to meet and work with. They did all of this whilst working and home schooling. They went above and beyond and ensured all calls were answered and boxes were ready for collections etc