Shopkeeper Bob Singh, his dedicated team of volunteers and their mammoth lockdown effort

A Washington shopkeeper and his team of dedicated volunteers have been working around the clock to help keep the town’s vulnerable afloat during these unprecedented times.
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Bob Singh never planned to dedicate his time and effort during coronavirus lockdown to supporting the community in Washington, but as he watched people struggle the shopkeeper knew he had to do something.

In the last two months, Mr Singh has provided food for the vulnerable, given thousands of hand sanitisers to care homes and NHS staff across the North East and he even ensured those who are unable to see their families received a special treat on Easter Sunday.

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The dad-of-three, who has owned the Nisa Local store in Barmston for the past nine years, said he reduced his prices during the initial ‘panic week’ selling essentials such as bread, milk, eggs and sugar for less than cost price; unlike many of his competitors.

Barmston Village Nisa Local store owner Bob Singh with staff and volunteers including Bob Taylor (left) and Marion Taylor (second row, centre)Barmston Village Nisa Local store owner Bob Singh with staff and volunteers including Bob Taylor (left) and Marion Taylor (second row, centre)
Barmston Village Nisa Local store owner Bob Singh with staff and volunteers including Bob Taylor (left) and Marion Taylor (second row, centre)

And that was the start of what would become a mammoth community effort.

Delivering food to 700 Washington homes

During the first week of lockdown, the store was struggling to get deliveries of essentials like bread so Bob asked the local artisan bakery to make him 2,000 loaves.

Mr Singh then asked for volunteers to take the bread to the elderly in Washington and urged them to take a pack of toilet roll from their own homes to donate too.

Store owner Bob Singh and his team delivered to 700 houses dailyStore owner Bob Singh and his team delivered to 700 houses daily
Store owner Bob Singh and his team delivered to 700 houses daily
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“The volunteers came in, Bob Taylor was one of the first, took the bread and asked where do they go,” said Mr Singh. “I told them to put a post on the Facebook group What’s on Washington, I already had a couple of addresses where people wanted help.

“The volunteers came back with tears in their eyes – that showed me what was going on here.

“Some people hadn’t seen for bread for over a week – that’s disturbing. That’s how we started off.

People were crying on the phone, I was shipping out food to them for free to people who needed the help,” added Mr Singh.

Bob Singh with some of the team of volunteersBob Singh with some of the team of volunteers
Bob Singh with some of the team of volunteers
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“I had two choices either I sit on the fence or I stand tall. I wasn’t bothered about the money, I stood tall – so what if you take a hit.”

Mr Singh, his 10 staff members and a team of more than 30 dedicated volunteers delivered food to the homes of the community’s most vulnerable.

In the end the team were delivering to 700 houses daily for almost four weeks before handing the list over to Sunderland City Council.

But they’ve continued to deliver essentials to those in need.

At times an aisle worth of food was being delivered to people in need every dayAt times an aisle worth of food was being delivered to people in need every day
At times an aisle worth of food was being delivered to people in need every day
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The business owner even managed to source around 20,000 bottles of hand sanitisers for frontline workers and provided around 3,000 bottles to Sunderland City Council staff.

He gave a total of 4,000 bottles to 240 care homes and donated others to food banks, schools and primary care.

An Easter surprise

When Easter Sunday arrived, Mr Singh decided to do something special to support people living on their own who, perhaps for the first time, couldn’t spend the special day with loved ones.

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The shopkeeper, who estimates he’s spent a five-figure sum on supporting the community in total, bought 2,500 Lindt Easter bunnies to deliver to homes around Washington.

Barmston Village, Nisa Local store owner Bob Singh with staffBarmston Village, Nisa Local store owner Bob Singh with staff
Barmston Village, Nisa Local store owner Bob Singh with staff

“This Easter was totally different to any Easter ever – even during the war people could still be with family. People couldn’t even go and see their grandparents,” said Mr Singh.

“When I got up on that morning and I drove to the shop I knew history was being made, feeling this buzz that was going up and down my body. I knew what we were doing there was something special.

“It’s something they’re going to talk about it for 50 years. I believe it was the biggest thing in the country that day.”

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A team of volunteers worked from 7am to 10pm to deliver every single bunny in the hope of bringing a smile to faces of those who would otherwise be spending the day alone.

Bob Taylor, one of the volunteers, added: “When we were delivering, people couldn’t believe it. They hadn’t seen their family at all.

“To get a total stranger coming to your door, leave an Easter bunny on your step and say Happy Easter that’s from Bob Singh – they couldn’t believe it,” said the 72-year-old.

Fundraising for good causes

After seeing what Mr Singh and the team’s efforts, a Go Fund Me page was set up by a member of the public which raised £1,800 – with the intention of helping to cover the cost of the food which was being sent out, for free, to vulnerable people.

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But instead of taking the money, Mr Singh added to it and donated the fund to Macmillan Cancer Support Sunderland and South Tyneside.

The cash went towards food packages for elderly patients with cancer and to help make memory boxes for the families of terminally-ill patients.

Now the team are fundraising for three special causes including Macmillan.

The team are raffling items on Facebook with one staff member, Lisa Laws, spending £250 on a bottle of vodka to donate.

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Mr Singh is also raffling items which are personal to him including signed football memorabilia and a six-litre bottle of vodka.

Bringing a community together

The ‘heroes of Washington’ are continuing to deliver to the vulnerable in the town.

Mr Singh said: “It makes me feel so proud looking back at what we’ve achieved. It’s been hard, physically it’s not been a problem but the emotional side I wasn’t ready for.

“There’s never been a day that we haven’t done anything.

“I knew we were nowhere near finished – and we’ve got some serious fundraising to do now.”

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Adding: “At a time like this, it’s like a war out there, some of the things that you can’t do is really crazy and really difficult for people.

“I think the staff, the volunteers and I have carried Washington. It’s about bringing the community together.”

Volunteer Marion Taylor, of Washington, added: “On a daily basis he just gives and gives and gives.

“It’s been an emotional roller coaster. It’s been about making a difference and bringing sunshine into someone’s life.

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“It’s wonderful to think you’ve made a difference in someone’s life.”

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