Vote for Echo's south Essex hero during coronavirus pandemic

Since the end of January, we’ve been sharing stories - based on your wonderful nominations - and hailing the kind, selfless endeavours of people across south Essex.

From business owners and key workers to those responsible for food and clothing supplies, we think they are truly brilliant.

They are pillars of our community and we thank them for their extraordinary efforts during an unprecedented 12 months.

Everyone listed below is a marvel, but now, just for added fun, you have a chance to vote for your ultimate local hero.

We have a prize for the winner and you’ll find a voting form in your latest copy of the Echo.

All you need to do is include the number of the person, people or organisation you believe stands out from the crowd and send your submission to the postal address found on the voting form.

Below is all of the amazing heroes who were nominated.

1. Alison Burt

Alison Burt

Alison Burt was put forward as a community hero thanks to her selfless work as general manager of the One Love Soup Kitchen.

Alison offered support to hundreds of homeless people during the first coronavirus lockdown period and she has continued to offer a helping hand at all times of the day throughout this testing period.

2. Marcus McCarthy’s fundraiser

Scarlett and Marcus McCarthy

A mother nominated a "community full of heroes" for donating a whopping £18,000 in her son's bid to undergo brain injury treatment in Panama.

Scarlett McCarthy's son, Marcus, suffers from cerebral palsy, which affects his lower limbs and balance, but lockdown resulted in delays to treatment and extra cash needing to be raised.

3. Sainsbury’s staff

Sainsbury's

A host of supermarket staff at a south Essex Sainsbury's store nominated each other for their hard work during the pandemic.

Workers in essential shops have worked tirelessly throughout the past 12 months, keeping us all going.

It has been all systems go at the Sainsbury's outlet based in Basildon's Cricketers Retail Park.

4. Yolanda Crabb

Yolanda Crabb

Bobby’s Big Heart was developed by Canvey youngster Bobby Crabb in 2017, with the intention to help struggling families.

The project has continued to help those in need throughout the past 12 months and his mother, Yolanda Crabb, was singled out for praise by one of our readers.

The elderly and homeless have been supported.

5. Amanda Cushing

Amanda Cushing

Amanda Cushing, Southend Hospital’s bereavement specialist midwife, was hailed for helping one of our readers following a stillbirth.

Ann-Marie Summers was supported by Amanda following the loss of her daughter, Ezmai-Gray Bourton.

6. Harp fundraisers

Carol Smith

Charities up and down the country have struggled throughout the pandemic due to having to cancel fundraisers - but Harp were thankful for those who went the extra mile for them.

A host of residents, including Carol Smith, took part in the 31 Miles in 31 Days challenge and raised thousands of pounds for the Southend homeless charity.

7. Rachel Rooks

Rachel Rooks

Rachel Rooks was put forward as a community champion by Warren Farley.

Warren, who lives with Asperger syndrome, had been fearing loneliness during the first lockdown.

But Rachel, who has worked as a co-ordinator for the supported volunteering project at SAVS for a decade, boosted Warren's spirits with weekly phone calls.

8. Emily Gahagan and Isabelle Clark

Emily Gahagan and Isabelle Clark

A Shoebury dad was bursting with pride after his daughters raised more than £2,000 by taking part in a sleepout.

Emily Gahagan and Isabelle Clark spent 27 hours outside a Tesco store in Southend.

The funds raised were donated to Charlie Boys Angels, the Southend Foodbank, CSF and The Project.

9. The Castle pub

The Castle pub

A Southend seafront watering hole, which has been made to shut for extensive periods of the last 12 months, supplied much-needed food to the local hospital.

The Castle pub, on Eastern Esplanade, provided pies while also offering food hampers to their elderly customers and several young people without parents.

10. Grace Claydon

Grace Claydon

Grace Claydon has been keeping spirits high in the First Hawkwell Girls' Brigade through the wonders of modern technology.

She even arranged a virtual awards ceremony to boost morale as members were kept apart due to restrictions put in place by the Government.

11. Chris and Rebecca Lindsay

Chris and Rebecca Lindsay

Chris and Rebecca Lindsay have gone the extra mile to ensure toys were delivered to countless children during the past 12 months.

The co-owners of Chris’ Toy Box & Bouncy Castle Hire have boosted spirits and Rebecca continued to put customers first despite Chris suffering a heart attack.

12. Joseph Bond

Joseph Bond

An Edwards Hall Primary School pupil raised more than £500 for Harp.

Joseph Bond looked to run 31 miles throughout the month of January.

The youngster was able to raise more than five times what he originally targeted as he battled through tough weather conditions.

13. Sally Lands

Sally Lands

A beach cleaner was hailed after Southend was named the 36th best seaside destination in the country.

Sally Lands, a Westcliff-based environmentalist, has been keeping our beaches clean throughout the pandemic and has been regularly seen picking up litter left along our coastline.

14. Tiami Green

Tiami Green

A dad was overjoyed after his 11-year-old daughter ran 30km to raise cash for charity.

Tiami Green raised close to £750 after pounding the pavement alongside dad Danny over the course of nine days.

The funds were donated to Save the Children.

15. Pathology First

Kimberley Game

Five Pathology First apprentices have been working around the clock in hospitals and laboratories during the Covid pandemic.

Kimberley Game was among those to support hospitals in Southend, Basildon and Thurrock.

16. Jacobs family

Barry, Karen, Louis and Sidney Jacobs

Barry and Karen Jacobs, along with their sons Louis and Sidney, battled through rain, wind and snow during their fundraiser for Parkinson’s UK.

The family fought through a snow-covered south Essex during Storm Darcy and raised more than £1,300 in the process.

17. Ellie, Harry, Beau and Betsy Lain

Ellie, Harry, Beau and Betsy Lain

A group of youngsters covered 3km in memory of their great grandad.

Ellie, Harry, Beau and Betsy Lain were left devastated after great grandad Norman sadly passed away following a battle with coronavirus at the age of 92.

The quartet raised funds for the Royal British Legion.

18. Barry Stoll’s neighbours

Barry and Margaret Stoll

A host of kind neighbours came to the rescue when Barry Stoll suffered a fall.

Barry toppled over when unloading shopping from the boot of his car and could not get back to his feet.

Neighbours on Rochefort Drive, Rochford, helped Barry and ensured he was not injured.

19. Arthur-John McKenzie

Arthur-John McKenzie

A nature-loving St Katherine's Church of England Primary School pupil completed a month-long fundraiser after being inspired by TV legend Sir David Attenborough.

Arthur-John McKenzie raised £500 for the World Wide Fund for Nature by cycling 50 miles.

20. Joshua Lewsey

Joshua Lewsey

A Leigh teenager was praised after he lodged a petition with Southend Council to build a skatepark.

Joshua Lewsey, 13, is seeking for a skatepark to be built in Oakwood Park after nearby parks' skate ramps have become run down.

21. Warren Garner

Haystack owner Warren Garner

Warren Garner has been ensuring members of the community are not seeing their mental health deteriorate in these unprecedented times.

With boozers closed for extensive periods, the Canvey-based Haystack pub owner has organised fun-filled Zoom meetings every night.

Alan Ingram was among those to send his thanks.

22. Jo Keay

Jo Keay

The driving force behind a community arts and health programme was labelled as a hero for her selfless work.

Jo Keay has been a lead artist on courses held at Open Arts, on High Street, Hadleigh, since its inception in 2012.

While Open Arts has been unable to welcome visitors through its doors due to restrictions, Jo has gone above and beyond to offer support.

23. Strollercise Rayleigh

Lin Green

Strollercise Rayleigh members rallied round to raise vital funds for Cancer Research UK.

Fitness fanatics, who dance to hits from the 1950s and 1960s, refused to let the coronavirus pandemic stop them in their tracks as Lin Green took classes online.

Funds were raised over the course of a month through Zoom classes.

24. Greensted Junior School

Greensted Junior School

Greensted Junior School pupils have been showing how much they care for the environment by litter-picking throughout the pandemic.

Clare Capper, the Basildon school's assistant headteacher, established the Eco-Warriors Club two years ago.

It now boasts 30 dedicated members and the youngsters were praised for their efforts in these tough times.

25. Billericay Rugby Club helpers

Billericay Rugby Club

Billericay Rugby Club were thankful after a host of businesses offered resources to help them construct a brand-new cafe.

The club received close to £9,000 worth of freebies from firms such as Rotamead, Howdens and Franke Coffee Systems to build the Beehive.

26. Sam Miller

Sam Miller

Teenager Sam Miller has set up a fundraiser as he looks to swim close to 70km over the course of a week.

The Westcliff High School for Boys Sixth Form student has set his sights on swimming the equivalent of the English Channel twice.

He is looking to raise funds for Alzheimer's Research UK, with his grandad suffering with the disease and his nan also living with dementia.

27. NHS workers

Steve Whyley (right) and Luke Butler

A trio of pals joined forces to shine a light on the difficulties NHS staff have faced during the pandemic.

Steve Whyley, Paul Skelton and Luke Butler combined to create a comedic sketch to show how testing it is for frontline workers.

The sketch portrayed three jobseekers learning about the environment NHS workers operate in.

28. The Buskerteers Choir

Mandy Dunnico

The Buskerteers Choir raised close to £10,000 after releasing a host of songs in support of Comic Relief.

The choir, which boasts more than 100 members, recorded a cover of Queen's I Want to Break Free and a medley of songs from the film the Greatest Showman.

The Buskerteers Choir's Mandy Dunnico admitted the choir helped her through the pandemic.

29. Southend Emergency Fund

Alan Kirkman

Hundreds of thousands of pounds has been handed out in just months thanks to an emergency fund created to help those hit hard by the Covid pandemic.

Founded by Alan Kirkman, 66, the Southend Emergency Fund has been helping more than 50 small charities and organisations – sharing out more than £240,000.

The fund has also worked with various schools.

30. Linda Catling

Linda Catling

A knitter known as the “Banksy of Leigh” has made families across the world smile throughout the pandemic with her colourful postbox hats.

Every month since the first lockdown began, 74-year-old Linda Catling has created an array of designs for the postbox outside her home and made more than a dozen hats.