Dave Manderscheid

Gary MacArthur gave 15 years of his life to Sainsbury’s in West Wickham, south-east London. He wasn’t some troublemaker. He was the worker who stayed late to make female colleagues feel safer. The worker who performed CPR on the store’s only security guard after he suffered a suspected stroke. The worker who had already previously LOST TEETH after being punched by a thief while trying to protect the store. But after tackling an allegedly aggressive repeat offender known for targeting the branch and stealing bottles of Moët, Bollinger and Veuve Clicquot Sainsbury’s sacked him for gross misconduct. This was after colleagues screamed there was an “aggressive Champagne thief” in the store. According to reports, the shoplifter later smashed bottles and hurled them at staff. Yet Gary MacArthur a man who dedicated 15 years of loyalty, protected colleagues and even helped save a life that same day — was told he should have acted only as a “visual deterrent.” Absolutely disgusting. Supermarket workers are being punched, threatened, abused and terrorised by repeat shoplifters on a daily basis… yet the staff who actually step in to protect colleagues and customers are the ones losing their jobs. Gary MacArthur at Sainsbury’s. Walker Smith at Waitrose. Sean Egan at Morrisons. Gavin Ramsay at Asda. Decades of loyalty thrown away because they refused to stand by while thieves ran riot. What kind of country are we becoming where the people trying to protect others lose everything… while the criminals walk straight back out onto the streets?

I started running parkrun in 2012 and I've volunteered 236 times. I've been a Run Director and Event Director because I love how it brings people together and encourages everyone to challenge themselves. It *is not* a competitive event and nobody races against anyone else.