Hawick councillor who goes above and beyond for the town has had his efforts recognised

In addition to his work as an elected representative for the Hawick and Denholm ward on Scottish Borders Council, Stuart Marshall is chair of the town’s Flood Group and has also played a central role in keeping the community safe and supported during the Covid-19 pandemic.

He has built a reputation for being wherever he is needed – whatever the time of day.

It’s that dedication which has been recognised by the management at the town’s Morrisons supermarket.

They presented Stuart with a ‘Man of the Year’ award to mark the recent International Men’s Day.

The accolade came as a total surprise and when he got the call from the supermarket Stuart assumed it was in connection with replacing the sandbags in the car park.

He said: “I received a call from the management recently asking if I could pop down to the store and to be honest I thought it was to discuss replenishing a sandbag store which Morrisons kindly permitted us to have in their car park area.

“What a lovely surprise when a member of their team presented me with this award which for once rendered me completely speechless.

“I am extremely grateful indeed to all the staff at Morrison’s for springing such a kind and generous surprise upon me.”

The town councillor was presented with a certificate and received a gift of wine and chocolates.

Typically, he donated the gifts to a town care home.

A spokesperson for Morrisons said: “We had a staff poll and Stuart was voted to receive the award. He works tirelessly for our community and has been a superhero for the town during the floods and pandemic.”

Stuart added: “I was pleased to donate the wine and chocolates to staff at a Buccleuch care home who are doing exceptional work looking after many of our family members during such really challenging times.

“The award wasn’t so much for my council work. On the certificate it says it’s for ‘outstanding service to the people of Hawick’ and it was mainly for my flood group work and for helping out the community during the pandemic.

“I was blown away by it. I never expected anything like this. I just do what I do because I like working for Hawick because it is such a great place to work for.

"I do what I can for the community.”