International model collects Sidmough Herald for charity

An international model from Sidmouth took time out from her busy schedule to help her dad collect copies of the Herald for charity.

Heidi Rock is the face of New Look and has appeared on catwalks in New York and Paris, but continues to support Exeter cause Dream-a-Way when she’s in town.

The 21-year-old has three autistic siblings, so her father Mike feels indebted to the charity, which provides respite care and holidays to disabled and seriously ill people in Devon.

He came across the charity when the family moved to Sidmouth from a dangerous council house in Dunkeswell.

“A rogue plumber ‘fixed’ the boiler – he’d been working for years but he wasn’t qualified,” he said.

“There was a carbon monoxide leak – Environmental Health said we were lucky we were still alive.”

The family’s house had been ruined by oil soot, at a cost of thousands of pounds, and they were moved to Sidmouth.

When their son started attending Honeylands Children’s Centre in Exeter, they were directed to Dream-a-Way for some respite.

“They gave us a couple of holidays, so I wanted to give up my spare time to give back to them,” said Mike, whose wife Gemma has also modelled.

He began collecting papers for the charity, which has a contract with Exeter City Council that rewards it for boosting recycling, and the Herald starting donating its old editions last year. Volunteers don’t even claim petrol – which helps to ensure that 99 per cent of the money the charity raises goes where it is intended.