A cold and quiet cul-de-sac in Oldham was transformed into a tropical paradise by parcel company Hermes to celebrate the grand winner of a national competition. A bleak January morning was replaced by a carnival atmosphere in Connington Close as a steel band and an ice cream cart accompanied a local courier as he delivered a £5000 prize to resident Candise Moore and her family.
The shocked mum-of-three, who was picked at random ahead of 30,000 other entrants, was congratulated by courier Tom, and several members of the Hermes team, along with some lifelike inflatable flamingos! Candise, a teacher, was presented with a £2000 clothes voucher and a £3000 holiday voucher, which will enable her young family to travel on a plane together for the very first time.
Hermes’ 12 Days of Christmas giveaway saw hundreds of entrants receive prizes from leading retailers, including Boohoo, Missguided, JD Williams and Lakeland, in the lead-up to the festive period. A final draw took place at the end of the competition that saw Candise’s name drawn out of the hat.
Candise said: “I saw the Hermes competition on Facebook – we entered a few giveaways over Christmas but didn’t think we’d win! We’ve never been out of the UK as a family on holiday, so we’re really excited to go on an aeroplane together. The boys had been saving in a money jar to go abroad – they want to go to Croatia, Spain or Greece, somewhere warm and sunny! I didn’t tell the boys what the prize was – I actually said it might be socks – so they were thrilled, and it was amazing to see their reactions!”
A neighbour, who came out of their house to watch the presentation, added: “It couldn’t have happened to a nicer family.”
Hermes, the consumer delivery specialist, provides flexible and affordable delivery options to home, work, and ParcelShops. Hermes, which has seen double-digit growth every year for the past six years, is one of the UK’s leading courier services, handling more than 330 million parcels in 2018. 80% of the UK’s top 100 retailers trust Hermes with their parcel deliveries, including Next, ASOS, John Lewis and Boohoo. For more information, visit https://www.myhermes.co.uk/
