Devon man reaches final of national competition

A man from Devon has reached the final in a national competition to find young adults who have helped in their communities during the 2020 pandemic.

Tom Perkins, 24, was nominated for the Urban Jungle's Heroes 2020 competition by Maddie Burton, who has been friends with Tom since they were at school together.

Maddie said: "My hero is Tom. During 2020, he went above and beyond.

"I am a key worker where as Tom wasn't eligible for furlough and was unable to work. This meant Tom had a lot of free time and no money.

"However, Tom made every effort to ensure that he kept as busy as possible and, as allowed, he would check with neighbours to see what shopping was needed to save multiple households having to do shopping trips, collecting prescriptions and more.

"During the second lockdown, the flat above me had a water leak. This caused my ceiling to collapse, flooded my kitchen and cut off my electrics, ruining my food, flooring and leaving an awful mess.

"Tom went over soaked up the water, and removed the debris and made sure the area was as safe as possible, but he really is a hero as he spent the last of his Universal Credit buying me food and supplies to replace what had been destroyed.

"He is so compassionate and caring. Even when he has already done more than enough, he goes above and beyond."

Jimmy Williams is CEO of Urban Jungle, the company which is running the competition. He said: "We think young adults have had to endure a lot in 2020 and want to do our bit to say: ‘thank you’.

"We wanted to meet the people, hear the stories and give thanks and recognition to those who have helped us all through.

“Whether they went shopping for an ill neighbour, took up the slack at work when others couldn’t or have been on the front line, we wanted to find those young adults and share their inspiring stories.”

The winner of the competition will receive a £250 Amazon voucher and become Urban Jungle's 2020 Hero. Four finalists will also win £50 Amazon vouchers.

To find out the prize winners on February 1st, and to see the full list of finalists, visit: https://explore.myurbanjungle.com/blog/urban-jungles-heroes-2020/