One of News Shopper’s Unsung Heroes has been recognised for his community contribution with a free oven clean.
Garnet Frost, 65, spends his Sundays cleaning the war memorial in Beckenham in tribute to brave soldiers who died in battle.
His work inspired a feature in the News Shopper and Garnet has since become a people’s champion in Beckenham.
READ: Unsung Heroes: Meet the man cleaning the Beckenham War Memorial
ALSO: Unsung Heroes: The much-loved street cleaner who is always smiling
Cameron Laing, 31, owns Eagle Eye Oven Cleaning and said it was a pleasure to offer Garnet a free oven clean.
"It’s such a fantastic thing what he’s doing, and I got really interested in it," Cameron, who has always lived in Beckenham, said.
"He is such a lovely guy – you couldn’t meet a nicer guy and last week I cleaned his oven.
"He is completely selfless and is not the kind of person that is doing this for a post on Beckenham Appreciation Group on Facebook.
"The memorial looks bloody great now too."
Cameron started his oven cleaning company six years ago when he was enduring a difficult time.
He was financially broke and had a baby on the way and bumping into a friend in Biggin Hill prompted a change.
"I saw an old friend and he was sitting there in his Audi and with his Rolex," he explained. "I said I was doing alright but I was dying inside.
"I was thinking what have I done wrong and I thought I should have bene so much further ahead in life."
He added: "I went into a deep depression and when I was driving back I had a life changing moment in Beckenham and it was like a bolt of lightning.
"Oven cleaning came into my head and I had never even heard of oven cleaning – I don’t know where it came from," he laughed.
Cameron spent the next 12 hours researching and was soon awarded almost £10,000 from a government grant to help him kickstart his business.
Six years later and he now has five vans on the road and is a popular figure in Beckenham and Bromley.
The Beckenham businessman said helping Garnet was his way of giving back.
"He obviously doesn’t get paid for it, so I just wanted to offer him a little something."
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