A CARER who organised second-hand furniture for victims of the floods has been nominated for the York and District Medal.

Francesca Hughes set up a Facebook group and linked up with Pickfords Self Storage, in James Street, to give people who had lost their sofa and armchairs the chance to collect a new items for free.

Her group, "Furniture Offered for Those Affected in the Floods", quickly gained more than 700 members who posted items they could donate to those who had lost their belongings.

Miss Hughes, 23, was nominated for the medal, which recognises some of the unsung heroes of the floods, by her boyfriend Jonathan Gargan, 25.

He said: "The effort she put in and the amount of her own time she used has been absolutely amazing.

"She is always doing things like this and even now she is on her phone non-stop trying to help people."

Miss Hughes spent countless hours at Pickfords to help oversee the collections and managed to secure vans to collect the goods from people on Facebook.

"I'm a carer so I suppose it's in my nature to do things like this," said Miss Hughes.

"There was a lot of people offering things on Facebook but they were getting lost, so I set up my own group.

"Neil Tappin and Michael Smith were key in helping me out as well.

"We had more than 100 items in Pickfords at one point, then once the interest died down the Community Furniture Store took over and they are now giving out donations."

A special panel will be appointed to select the 50 recipients who best represent the efforts of those who selflessly gave their time and energy to support others in distress, and 50 unique, specially-designed commemorative medallions will be presented in a velvet-lined box by the Lord Mayor of York at a special, investiture-style reception at one of York’s most historic buildings, such as The Guildhall.

To nominate your flood heroes email newsdesk@thepress.co.uk with your name, address and contact details, plus the name and contact details (if available) of the person you are nominating, and explain the reasons for the nomination.

Alternatively, send your completed nominations to York & District Medal, Newsdesk, The Press, 84-86 Walmgate, York YO1 9YN.