An Amazon employee who goes the extra mile for the community in Dunfermline received a special surprise this week when she was nominated for a national Amazon Star award.
Gill Cura, who works at Amazon’s fulfilment centre in Dunfermline as a senior HR business partner, was nominated for the award by her colleagues at Amazon.
Gill, who has worked at Amazon for a year and a half, is a passionate supporter of the local community in her spare time. It’s this support, which includes her contribution to the Scot Baby Box Appeal, that has seen Gill receive a nomination in this year’s Amazon Stars awards programme.
Now in its third year, Amazon Stars is a UK-wide campaign that recognises and rewards Amazon employees who make an outstanding contribution to the local community by using their skills, time and knowledge to help others.
Gill’s support of her community means she could win one of three Dream Boxes – the top prize awarded as part of the Amazon Stars programme. A Dream Box, worth up to £1,500, is a personalised prize to honour Amazon’s community heroes. Gill will find out in the coming weeks if she has won a Dream Box.
Gill was nominated for the award by her colleagues for her contribution to the Scot Baby Box Appeal, a Scotland-based charity supporting mothers and new-born babies in Ukraine.
The Scot Baby Box Appeal was created during the start of the Ukraine war. Across Scotland, new mothers receive a baby box which is full of essentials catering for babies from birth to six months. Jackie Crawford, founder of the Scot Baby Box Appeal, requested for baby boxes from her local community to be donated to Ukraine, kickstarting a charity campaign with far-reaching influence.
Gill offered her services to Jackie after seeing news articles about how Ukrainian women had to give birth in dangerous and unhygienic areas due to the risk of bombing at hospitals in the country. This moved Gill, and she wanted to provide anything she could for the new mothers in Ukraine. This specifically included her baby box that was provided by the Scottish government.
Gill soon became heavily involved with the charity, organising local drop off points across Scotland and running fundraising events to raise awareness of the cause. She is now a trustee for the charity and has helped to donate over 4,000 baby boxes to Ukrainian people which include baby essentials; food and medicine for new mothers, expecting women and new-born babies.
Speaking after learning of her nomination in this year’s awards, Gill said: “As a new mum myself, it felt very personal for me to be able to help other mums and new-born babies in need across Ukraine.
“We all hope and pray the war will soon be over in Ukraine, but sadly, there will always be a location in the world where people are in need. The Scot Baby Box Appeal is now starting to look at families in need in Scotland, too, particularly with the cost-of-living crisis. I am honoured to have been nominated for an Amazon Star award for what I do.”
She added: “The best thing about working at Amazon is the team and its support. I’m encouraged to talk and raise awareness about the Scot Baby Box Appeal on site and colleagues have donated to the charity.
“My manager and the senior leadership team at Amazon are behind what I’m doing, and they give me the space and time to make sure I can do my job at Amazon and still have time to focus on my charity work.”
Jamie Strain, General Manager at Amazon in Dunfermline, added: “The Amazon Stars programme is our way of saying thank you to our colleagues who go above and beyond to have a positive impact on the community.
“Gill does some incredible work with charities and community organisations in Scotland and everyone at Amazon in Dunfermline is proud of her. Gill is fully deserving of this fantastic nomination, and I wish her the best of luck ahead of the big reveal of this year’s winners.”
Last year, the three winners were: Aizaz Hussain, a spoken-word artist who dedicates his time and his art to helping people with mental health struggles; Phil Hayden, a dedicated NHS volunteer who has also made more than 600 blood donations over the past 36 years; and Richard Burtenshaw, a community children’s football coach who found creative ways of keeping the players active during lockdown.