Firefighter Tom Taylor was chosen to help promote Public Service Day on June 23 after raising thousands of pounds for the NHS through his Frontline Coffee venture in Portland.

The day, officially launched by the United Nations as long ago as 2003, has barely been recognised in the UK until two years ago, when public sector and civil service membership club Boundless took up the cause.

Now it is gaining increasing recognition, with Tom’s story at the forefront of the campaign.

The Devon & Somerset firefighter made headlines when, along with colleague Matt Broxton, he started a firefighter-owned online coffee company to raise money for good causes in 2018.

Since then, he has also opened a warehouse and coffee shop in Portland with all profits going to charities such as the NHS, RNLI, TASC (the ambulance staff charity), The Fire Fighters Charity and Dorset MIND.

Darren Milton at Boundless, pictured left, said: “Public Service Day is all about people saying ‘thank you’ to those who work in the public service for all the work they do for the country.

“It’s especially relevant this year after the pandemic, with nurses, firefighters, teachers, administrators and police officers doing everything they can to save lives and keep the country going.

“We spotted Tom’s story and it really fitted in with the message we are trying to get across.

“So many people who work in public service go above and beyond to help people, not only in their jobs but also by volunteering and raising money for charity and for their local community.

“He has already raised more than £20,000 and he’s by no means alone.”

A survey commissioned by Boundless found almost three-quarters – 72 per cent – of the UK’s public service heroes have undertaken volunteer work or raised money to help others during the pandemic.

The result showed those in public service have raised on average £8,131 per person for charity during the course of their career.

Darren said: “If we didn’t know already just how special the people who work in public service are, these survey results really underline it.

“People like Tom and Matt are showing they really care.

“Now it is time, on Public Service Day, for us all to say ‘thank you’ and let all those in public service know we really do appreciate everything they do.”

Tom added: “The last year has been so hard for key workers but if we can lift just one person’s day, that’s a great feeling.”

For more information, inspirational stories, and tips on how to get involved, please visit boundless.co.uk/publicserviceday.

You can also engage on Twitter using the hashtags #extraordinarypeople and #PublicServiceDay.

• frontlinecoffee.co.uk