A POPULAR Harlow postmaster has won a lifetime achievement at the Pride of Essex awards for his community work.

For more than twenty years Piyush Achara has run the Newsagent and Post Office in Bush Fair.

It has become a focal point for the community who have come to rely on this kind and generous man for everything from advice to newspaper deliveries seven days a week. 

As a young married couple in the mid eighties Piyush and his wife Vishakha came to the UK to build their lives. They had nothing in their pockets but ambition and hard work .

They learnt to speak English, adjusted to the culture, endured racism and raised two very decent and respectable daughters, both now doctors ….. and through hard work established a business that is a corner stone of the community.

The Pride of Essex awards are in recognition to special people, of all ages, who had faced enormous difficulties with courage and determination. The awards also recognise those who had contributed significantly to the community