Asda colleagues' colleague of the year Bob always goes out of his way to help others

Congratulations to our Ramsgate store's fantastic deputy manager Bob Ellender who's won the Colleagues' Colleague of the Year title at the Proud To Be Asda Awards.

The awards celebrate the incredible work all our colleagues have put in throughout the pandemic, and Bob was voted for by our colleagues from a shortlist of 10 which had been whittled down from thousands of nominations.

Bob was nominated for the way he always puts others first, whether it's customers at the store or his support for the local food bank and families who are struggling financially due to the pandemic.

His many acts of kindness include buying much-needed food supplies for the Salvation Army in the town, providing Christmas dinner for two families and paying for plant seeds for an elderly lady who was shielding and could not get to the store.

As well as being named Colleagues' Colleague of the Year, Bob has also been named Supermarket Colleague Hero of the Year in the Proud to be Asda Awards. He also recently received a British Citizen's Award Medal for his work in the community.

Our CEO & President Roger Burnley said: “In a difficult year, Bob reflects the spirit and dedication of the whole Asda team, who in the face of a global pandemic have gone above and beyond to look after customers, our communities and each other.

“Thousands of customers and colleagues cast their votes in the Proud to be Asda Awards, which is a fantastic recognition of the hard work of all of our colleagues across the country over the past year and in particular the 10 fantastic colleagues who were our category winners."

Here's the moment Roger told Bob he'd won:

Bob, who's 48, has been at our Ramsgate store for five year and has worked for Asda for 14 years.

He said: "The last year has been horrible for everybody. My wife Kati and myself are both lucky. We are both working, but many other people are not that lucky. With many people out there who are worse off than me I wanted to do something to help. I know the Mayor of Ramsgate, Raushan Ara, and I said to her I'd like to do something – so I bought food for the local food bank.

"At Christmas I wanted to do something for local families so again I got in touch with the mayor who put me in touch with two families. For one I got a whole Christmas dinner and the other lady a dinner and toys for her six-month-old baby.

"I haven't done any of this for any awards, it's just the way I am, my personality – I've always wanted to help others. When I was told I'd won the award it was like, 'wow'. It's been mind-blowing really. At the end of the day we have all been heroes."

Store manager Kevin Martin, who nominated Bob for the Asda award, says the whole store is proud of him.

He said: "Bob really has a heart of gold. He's such a warm-hearted person who is loved both by colleagues and customers here in Ramsgate.

"What he has done to help others is absolutely brilliant. He is from the town and so well known in the community. We are a very family-orientated store here and Bob is always there to offer advice to customers have any queries and concerns.

"If any of our colleagues here need to talk to someone, Bob is always willing to lend an ear too. He's such a cracking guy."

Proud To Be Asda awards: Read more about our award-winning colleagues here.