Community Champion, Sarah O’Neill, sponsor Reading Football Club
A woman whose extensive work in the community has led to her being put forward for the Community Champion award has been described by her nominator as “my gift from god”.
Sarah O’Neill has been supporting the community in Shinfield since Covid hit, they said.
“She has helped hundreds of families with food parcels and helped to source white goods etc for people. She helped one family get a fridge freezer when theirs broke down,” they added.
“There are so many examples of Sarah’s hard work in the community,” said the nominator listing the Helping Hands community project in Shinfield and Spencers Wood, and Share Shinfield which makes surplus food from supermarkets available for local people and combats food waste.
“Without her I’d most probably be six feet under,” the nominator said.
“Sarah put her trust in me to volunteer at Share Shinfield two years ago .
“This has changed my life. I still have mental health issues but I haven’t self harmed for over a year and I now go out on my own. This is all thanks to Sarah’s support and love. I call her my gift from God.”
Sarah ran the Edinburgh marathon to raise money for Shinfield Community Church building fund and raised over £2,000. “Sarah is an inspiration to many and a true life superwoman to Shinfield,” said her nominator.
The Community Champion award is sponsored by Reading Football Club.
