Heather Davis

For more than 12 years, Heather has been quietly making a difference in her community. From founding KDARS for KIDS and supporting families living with kidney disease to helping turn a two-week food project into six years of community support through Pitstop in the Park, her work is built on one simple belief: nobody should feel like they're facing things alone. This is Heather's Grimbarian story.

For Heather, community is about people. It is about being there when somebody needs a little extra support, creating somewhere people feel welcome and, perhaps most importantly, making sure nobody feels like they are facing something alone.

In 2014, Heather and her husband Steve founded KDARS for KIDS, a support group for families with babies, toddlers and young people living with Chronic Kidney Disease and other renal issues. What began as a way of supporting local families has grown over the years, providing practical help, information, friendship and somewhere to turn for people navigating what can be an incredibly difficult journey.

A year after starting KDARS for KIDS, Heather and Steve opened a physical space. It was initially intended as an information centre for families beginning their kidney disease journey, helping them find organisations such as the National Kidney Federation and Kidney Care UK. But they wanted it to be more than that. It became somewhere people could simply walk through the door, have a drink, grab something sweet and have a chat.

Then the pandemic changed everything.

Inspired in part by Marcus Rashford's campaign around food poverty, Heather and Steve started providing free hotdogs and lunch bags containing fruit, juice and a chocolate biscuit for local children. The plan was simple and temporary. They were going to do it for two weeks.

Six years later, that idea is still going as Pitstop in the Park.

The hotdogs have now been replaced by free Pot Noodles, but the principle remains exactly the same. If someone needs something, help where you can. A short-term response to an incredibly difficult period became another lasting part of the community work Heather and Steve provide.

For Heather, recognition has never been the motivation. She describes herself as a modest person who doesn't particularly enjoy being in the spotlight. What matters is knowing that something they have done might have made life a little easier for somebody else.

"You don't always know what somebody is going through behind closed doors," Heather says. "If something we do makes somebody's day a little easier, then it is worthwhile."

That understanding comes partly from her own experiences growing up. Heather remembers having somewhere she could go through Shal Youthy and understands just how important it can be for young people to have a safe, welcoming environment around them. It is something that has stayed with her and shaped the way she approaches community work today.

"I've always believed that if you can help somebody, then you should," she explains. "You don't have to change the world. Sometimes just being there, listening or giving somebody a little bit of help is enough."

Grimsby has naturally been at the centre of that work. Born and raised here, Heather has lifelong connections to the town and its people. While she recognises the challenges Grimsby faces, her experiences have continually shown her the generosity that exists within the community.

For Heather, community is not something complicated. It is people looking out for each other, often through small gestures that might seem insignificant but can mean a great deal to the person receiving them.

"Community is about people looking out for one another," she says. "Sometimes it's something big, but very often it's the little things that make the biggest difference."

In 2024, KDARS for KIDS and the National Kidney Federation also held the first Brave Beans Awards Celebration. The event recognised the courage of their young "kidney beans", while making sure their brothers and sisters were recognised too.

That was particularly important to Heather. When a child is regularly attending hospital appointments or dealing with ongoing treatment, it can be easy for siblings to feel like they are somewhere in the background. The awards were a way of making sure they knew they mattered too.

Plans are already being discussed for another celebration in 2027, with the hope that it can eventually become an annual event. There are also ambitions to continue developing the relationship with the National Kidney Federation and expand the support available to families, while keeping the original purpose of KDARS for KIDS firmly at its heart.

Heather's own health means she cannot always be involved in the way she once was, something she admits can be difficult. But rather than focusing on what she cannot do, she is quick to recognise the people who have stepped forward to help keep the work going.

And perhaps that is the best reflection of Heather's approach to community. It is not about one person doing everything. It is about people coming together, helping where they can and making sure something worthwhile continues.

From a child receiving something to eat at Pitstop in the Park, to a family finding support after a difficult diagnosis, to a young kidney patient being celebrated alongside their brothers and sisters, Heather's work has always come back to the same simple belief: people matter, and nobody should have to face things alone.