THE leader of a recycling group in York has been nominated for Person Of The Year at The Press’ Community Pride Awards.

This is the eighth year The Press has run the awards, in partnership with City of York Council and other local businesses, which celebrate unsung heroes and inspirational individuals throughout the city.

Ben Weaver, from the York Branch of Freecycle, has been nominated for the award by Iris Wells, of St James Mount, for his hard work to prevent unneccessary landfill.

Iris said: “Ben started the York Branch of Freecycle in April 2005, and it is a marvellous system of stopping unwanted items going into landfill.

“The group does an enormous amount in creating a good community spirit, and York residents appreciate giving and receiving items for free.

“In York there are 23,167 members who offer unwanted goods, and since 2005, Ben has overseen over 150,000 messages, offering, accepting or receiving items.”

Ben said: “I helped start Freecycle in York in 2005 after learning about the schemes success in the US and London, and realising York didn’t have a group.

“It’s grown to a group with about 20,000 members in York and I call it a way of finding new homes for things you don’t want or would throw away.”

At the time of writing, Ben had overseen 181,667 messages offering new homes for unwanted items, but said he was still surprised at the number.

“We just look at them day by day, it’s just one day after another; we never really get a quiet one.

“I’m delighted and flattered to be nominated for Person Of The Year. It’s not something I ever thought I would be involved with or nominated for, but it’s just fantastic news and a complete surprise.”

All nominees must live or be based in the City of York Council tax area, and the winners will be invited to a special awards ceremony in October.

Nominations can be submitted online at thepress.co.uk/news/communitypride before Friday, July 22.