Students raise £1,500 to send University cleaner on family holiday

BRISTOL: An adored university cleaner was reduced to tears after students raised money to send him to Jamaica on holiday.

Happy Herman Gordon is loved by everyone at Bristol University for his positive attitude and happy-go-lucky nature.

They decided they wanted to reward him and over 230 students donated to a JustGiving page that raised £1,500 for the family trip.

He was called ‘the epitome of happiness’ by students as the crowdfunding appeal was launched.

 

The Jamaican cleaner in the med library is the jolliest man I have ever met, he makes me smile even when I’m in the deepest depths of revision… ‘If you wanna reason to smile, go talk to him for a min or two,’ it said.

A video of Mr. Gordon being surprised with the money was later shared online where he is seen wiping away tears and thanking the students for the kind gesture.

The money will pay for him and his wife to go and see family on the island, who they haven’t seen in four years.

The gift was accompanied by a note addressed from ‘Bristol Students’, which thanked Mr. Gordon for his ‘positive energy’ over the years.

‘You have brightened many of our days and we want you to know that we love and appreciate you.’

Mr. Gordon has worked at Bristol University as part of the cleaning staff for 12 years. He told BBC Newsbeat, it was important to keep ‘negative vibes’ away from the students.

‘’They speak good things to me, I speak good things to them, and I bless them all.’

According to the Bristruths Facebook page – an anonymous ‘truth’ page for Bristol University – the idea for Mr. Gordon’s trip came from a Facebook post.

 

One user announced he wanted to crowdfund to send him on holiday and within five days, they had almost reached their target.

Mr. Gordon said that he was overcome with emotion when he received the money from the students.

He’d never mentioned anything about wanting to go away, so receiving the money was ‘out of the blue’.

‘I don’t know if you know that song – ‘Many a tear has to fall/But it’s all in the game’,’ he said.

‘That’s what happened. A lot of tears,’ he told the BBC.