Dougie's a 'first class' postie

Customers were invited to nominate Royal Mail people who they thought were the unsung heroes of the local community, ‘1st Class’ charity fundraisers or individuals who performed a public spirited act of bravery or had helped with an emergency whilst out on their deliveries.

Mr Fillis has been short-listed in the ‘community involvement’ category for his tireless work as a volunteer with the Special Olympics group in Coleraine. He gives up most of his spare time supervising and coaching two Special Olympics Clubs catering for the needs of numerous young people with varying degrees of disabilities or learning difficulties.

He has demonstrated the exceptional contribution that Royal Mail employees make to their local communities and will receive 100 in prize money.

From these nine individuals, judges will choose a regional winner in each category - Bravery, Community Involvement and Charity Fundraising, who will attend a national award ceremony on May 24.

The regional winners will each receive 500 in prize money and a trophy at the award presentation, where national winners in the three categories will be announced; they receive 1000.

At the ceremony one of these winners will be overall UK winner of ‘Royal Mail’s 1st Class People’ Awards, winning a luxury holiday and spending money.