NI Posties Praised

Three postal workers from Northern Ireland will be heading off to London later this month to attend an award ceremony to find the best postmen and women in the country.

The three, Kevin Maxwell and Alex Shortt employed at the Northern Ireland Mail Centre, Mallusk and Gordon Ferguson from Stewartstown have just been announced as the Northern Ireland winners in their respective categories of charity fundraising, bravery and community involvement for the tremendous work they do within their local communities.

They go forward to the national finals, with the chance to win the title Royal Mail Postman of the Year and £1000.

Kevin Maxwell was selected as the winner in the Charity Fundraising category for his tireless voluntary work with the Ireland Special Olympics Team.

Together with colleagues from the Northern Ireland Mail Centre thousands of pounds were raised through various fundraising events including bag packing at local supermarkets, family fun days at the Mail Centre and Dragon Boat races.

Kevin was also involved in organising the Olympic Team last year taking responsibility for overseeing the team logistics as they competed in China and has already started planning more fundraising events for the next games

Gordon Ferguson, who has been a postman in the Stewartstown area for almost 30 years, has been declared the winner in the Community Involvement category.

He has been described as a completely trustworthy, reliable, friendly and pleasant gentleman, an absolute gem, making a point of regularly calling with his elderly customers to ensure they are well.

Meanwhile, in the Bravery category, Alex Shortt, based at the Northern Ireland Mail Centre, put his life on the line to save an elderly motorist trapped and injured in an overturned vehicle as he drove to work early one winter morning.

Weather conditions were treacherous on the dark country road when he came upon the accident.

He immediately took charge giving assistance to the injured person and helped prevent the danger of further accidents occurring at the scene, as he waited for the emergency services to arrive.

Gary Crawford, Area General Manager for Royal Mail in Northern Ireland, said: "Our people often go the extra mile to help their communities in all sorts of ways and these awards are about recognising the postmen and women across the country who are very often unsung heroes in their local communities."

The efforts of all three have been recognised locally and they now represent Northern Ireland in the national finals joining 24 other regional winners from across the UK at a London award ceremony on 30 March, where they will each receive cheques for £500 and a certificate from Royal Mail Chief Executive Adam Crozier and a celebrity guest.

(BMcC/JM)