Hotspur Hero - David Evans

Fri 10 July 2020, 17:35|Tottenham Hotspur

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'Selfless', 'kind' and 'the most decent human you could wish to meet' are just a few of the words used to describe our next Hotspur Hero, who has been nominated twice for his outstanding work during the pandemic.

Over the last four months, lifelong Spurs fan David Evans has balanced his job managing a central London supermarket with making deliveries of essential items to fellow key workers and vulnerable people within the local community.

Despite the efforts of David and his colleagues, the challenge of feeding the nation has been a tough one.

He explained: “We saw panic buying at the beginning, which was so strange to witness. Some customers were extremely anxious and emotional, and we were worried ourselves - it was fear of the unknown.

“Then we had lockdown and the difficulty of enforcing social distancing so people could do their shopping safely... a pretty manic period all in all.”

Alongside his commitment to providing a vital service to the public, the safety and welfare of his staff has been at the forefront of David’s mind in these unprecedented times.

“Staff are putting their health at risk to come into work and make sure people can get the food they need. My focus has been on doing everything I can to support them, whether that’s talking through their fears, asking about their families, or just being a friend in this really uncertain time.”

With this level of dedication to staff wellbeing, it is no surprise that one colleague called David 'a hero to us all at work and in the community'.

Supporting the local community is another pursuit in which David has gone the extra mile during the pandemic.

Exuding a measured sense of pride, he told us: “Working with the local fire station in Soho, we’ve done countless charity drops to food banks, hospitals, ambulance services and more. It got to one stage where we were donating so many Easter eggs to the NHS, they had to tell us to stop!”

For David, seeing the appreciation and happiness on people’s faces makes it all worthwhile.

“You just want to keep doing it and I can’t believe four months has gone by already! I suppose when things return to normal, it’ll all hit me and that will be a time to reflect.”

We finished by discussing his Hotspur Hero nomination and how he feels to be recognised for his work.

“I’ve been a Spurs fan for as long as I can remember and I’m really touched that people have given up their time to nominate me. It’s nice that even though I think I’m just doing what anyone would do, others think I’m going beyond that.”