A caf\u00e9 worker with a heart of gold has been nominated for a top award by Marks and Spencer in Shrewsbury after two decades of voluntary work.<\/p>\n
Vicky Moore says that in 1993 her mum put her name forward when blind piano teacher and tuner, Edward Wilkins, of Shrewsbury, was looking for a driver so he could get to appointments.<\/p>\n
Vicky, who has worked as a customer service advisor in the caf\u00e9 at the M&S store in Shrewsbury\u2019s Darwin Centre for the past 10 years, says she thought she\u2019d help Edward out for a couple of months.<\/p>\n
But, 20 years on, she still spends two days a week driving him to appointments and says she thoroughly enjoys what she does.<\/p>\n
She said: \u201cMy daughter, Charlotte, was learning to play the piano and we called Edward out to tune my mum\u2019s piano which Charlotte was using to learn on.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat was 20 years ago. And he told us he was looking for a driver to take him to piano tuning appointments.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy mum decided to volunteer me and two decades on I\u2019m still driving Edward around to his appointments. I used to take him more than two days a week but I had to reduce it when I got the job at M&S in the caf\u00e9 here at the Darwin Centre.<\/p>\n
\u201cNow, on Tuesdays and Fridays, the days I don\u2019t work in the caf\u00e9, I take him out to his appointments. I\u2019m even a dab hand now at helping him change strings.<\/p>\n
\u201cHowever, I haven\u2019t got a musical bone in my body and you wouldn\u2019t want to hear someone play a piano I\u2019d tuned!\u201d<\/p>\n
Ruth Hart, Food Manager at M&S in the Darwin Centre, said: \u201cWe nominated Vicky for the ‘Pride of M&S Award’ as we felt that through her voluntary work she has gone the extra mile to make M&S proud.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe award aims to celebrate and reward the achievements of our colleagues who have made a difference through incredible courage, determination and initiative together with celebrating all that is good about M&S.\u201d<\/p>\n
Vicky added: \u201cBeing Edward\u2019s driver is something I really enjoy. It\u2019s voluntary, although he does cover the petrol we use.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s a lovely man and I really do find my days driving him around quite relaxing. I get a lot of satisfaction from it and he is a real gentleman.<\/p>\n
\u201cI have the best of both worlds really as I love working in the caf\u00e9, the customers are really friendly and I\u2019m part of a great team. I can actually say I look forward to going to work which is a nice way to be.\u201d<\/p>\n
However, Edward Wilkins will lose his dedicated driver for more than a month next year as Vicky is heading Down Under.<\/p>\n
She said: \u201cCharlotte moved out to Cairns, in Australia, three years ago and my mum and I are going out to see her, and her partner, for the first time early next year.<\/p>\n
\u201cI can\u2019t wait to see her. She initially went to New Zealand and came home before saving up and going back out but to Australia. She\u2019s now training to be a nurse.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt will be so emotional seeing her again. I have a son, David, 24, and he still lives at home with me but I really miss seeing Charlotte.\u201d<\/p>\n
Edward, 86, a retired music teacher at the College for the Blind, says Vicky has been a wonderful driver for him.<\/p>\n
He said: \u201cI can get about as I do have a guide dog but, as I still tune pianos right across Shropshire and surrounding counties, I need someone who can get me to appointments.<\/p>\n
\u201cI always feel safe with Vicky she is calm and unhurried and it\u2019s always a smooth drive. She\u2019s actually excellent at putting new strings on a piano and like many women she\u2019s neat and something of a perfectionist.<\/p>\n
\u201cMusic means a lot to me and I have always enjoyed piano tuning and have no intention of stopping as I feel perfectly fit and able. Having Vicky to drive me though is just superb. She is so reliable and has never let me down.\u201d<\/p>\n
Vicky added: \u201cIt was a real shock to see someone had nominated me for the Employee of the Year Award.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s nice being recognised for what I do even if, for me, it\u2019s nothing special. M&S is a wonderful company to work for and I really enjoy being part of a fantastic team.\u201d<\/p>\n
Kevin Lockwood, Manager of the Darwin, Pride Hill and Riverside Shopping Centres, said: \u201cVicky is part of a great team at M&S in the Darwin Centre and she still finds time to help out someone like this.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s great the way the store have recognised her for her efforts and that those efforts have enabled Mr Wilkins to carry on with a profession that clearly gives him so much pleasure.\u201d<\/p>\n