Now in our sixth year, Nextdoor’s Good Neighbour Awards are a celebration of neighbourliness and the good deeds performed everyday by neighbours around the UK.
This year we are proud to announce an new award category; Community Hero of the Year to the Good Neighbour Awards 2024, inspired by our partner Sky Protect, and sponsored by them. This award celebrates incredible acts of selflessness and support that change peoples lives for the better, and our inaugural winner has been doing precisely that.
The 2024 Good Neighbour Award for Community Hero of the Year sponsored by Sky Protect is:
Darren Wiles – Bournemouth, Dorset
Nominated by neighbour Joyce Monteith who wrote:
We have the best neighbour anyone could ever have and so many have called him their hero. Darren has helped so many people over the years and has reduced many people to tears. They are happy tears because they are delighted to get back what they have lost. Using his metal detector, when called he will travel anywhere to help those who have lost a ring, an earring a necklace or bracelet. Sometimes he is far away from home and spends hours looking and doesn’t give up until he’s found it. Certainly an unsung hero! #2024GoodNeighbour
Darren lives in Bournemouth, Dorset where he has dedicated his spare time and his hobby to recovering and reuniting members of his community with their lost precious items. A committed metal detectorist, Darren has reunited more than 200 lost items with very grateful owners all over the South coast, a true local hero.
