From the boot of her car, Laura McSorley, Team Leader in our UK Savings and Retirement Team, set-up the Kindness Homeless Street Team to help feed homeless people in Glasgow.
Yesterday she found out she's the winner of the Lorraine Kelly Women of the Year Kindness Award.
Watch the moment she found out she'd been nominated on Lorraine's morning show. Lorraine went on to announce Laura as the winner at a special lunch with the other finalists.
I am absolutely over the moon to have won Lorraine Kelly's Kindness woman of the year award. This came as a huge shock and welcome surprise. I couldn't believe when my name came out as winner from Lorraine Kelly. I feel so fortunate and proud.
I always knew I wanted to be that difference
"In October 2019, I started with £5 of sandwiches walking the streets of Glasgow to chat and assist people in need. I always knew I wanted to be that difference in these amazing people's lives.
"Fast forward to COVID-19 - March 2019 and I realised there was a massive need to step up and help during the pandemic. I quickly rallied round and began a seven night per week service for hot food, clothing, toiletries, hot drinks. We had amazing support from the public and restaurants and people came to assist every evening.
"We now offer a Foodbank service six days per week, soup kitchen three evenings per week, and furnish homes every day. We have so much more we want to explore and offer as a charity and I am so excited to see it grow.
"Working from home gave me the flexibility to help every evening. Having worked for Aviva for 18 years I always resonated with our care value. I am so proud of my charity's achievements and for all the amazing volunteers committed to making the world a better place."
We are all incredibly proud of Laura. She gives up a huge amount of her personal time to help people on the streets of Glasgow. She was determined to make a difference and refused to sit back, even during the toughest of times in lockdown, her team were out on the streets supplying people with hot food and warm clothes. This is a fantastic achievement and so deserved - Laura is an amazing women, colleague and friend.
Notes to editors:
- We are the UK's leading diversified insurer and we operate in the UK, Ireland and Canada. We also have international investments in India and China.
- We help our 20.5 million (as at 31 December 2024) customers make the most out of life, plan for the future, and have the confidence that if things go wrong we'll be there to put it right.
- We have been taking care of people for more than 325 years, in line with our purpose of being 'with you today, for a better tomorrow'. In 2024, we paid £29.3 billion in claims and benefits to our customers.
- In 2021, we announced our ambition to become Net Zero by 2040, the first major insurance company in the world to do so. While we are working towards our sustainability ambitions, we recognise that while we have control over Aviva’s operations and influence over our supply chain, when it comes to decarbonising the economy in which we operate and invest, Aviva is one part of a far larger global system. Nevertheless, we remain focused on the task and are committed to playing our part in the collective effort to enable the global transition. Find out more about our climate goals at www.aviva.com/sustainability/climate and our sustainability ambition and action at www.aviva.com/sustainability.
- Aviva is a Living Wage, Living Pension and Living Hours employer and provides market-leading benefits for our people, including flexible working, paid carers leave and equal parental leave. Find out more at https://www.aviva.com/about-us/our-people/
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