Gritter officially named after Broseley boy Zac Oliver

Zac Oliver gets a close look at his gritter – with a little help from driver Adam Painting

One of Shropshire Council’s gritters has been officially named after four-year-old Broseley boy Zac Oliver, whose family are raising money to enable him to have specialist medical treatment in America.

Zac’s name was suggested by a number of people – including Zac’s mum Hannah – after Shropshire Council launched a competition last week to find names for the county’s 25 gritters.

Once Zac’s name was suggested both Shropshire Council and Kier – partners in the Shropshire Highways alliance – agreed to name one of the gritters after him.

Zac and  Hannah visited the highways depot at Longden Road in Shrewsbury today (Thursday 11 October) so that Zac could see and sit in his gritter.

The gritter named after Zac is responsible for gritting the roads in Broseley in the winter, and is driven by Adam Painting, who also lives in the town.

Hannah said:

“Zac is really excited to have his name on a gritter. This will be a great reminder of how the local community came together to save my little boy’s life. A gritter and the community are both similar, in effect doing the same role. They both come out in times of need and are saving lives by doing their bit.”

Steve Ash, senior delivery manager with Kier, said:

“We’re delighted that one of our gritters will now be named Zac Oliver. We’ve all been touched by Zac’s story and when a number of people, including his mum Hannah, suggested his name in response to our ‘name the gritter’ competition we were very happy to oblige. It’s especially apt as Zac’s uncle Ian works at our highways depot in Shrewsbury.”

More than 500 names have been suggested so far in the ‘name the gritter’ competition and the best and most popular will be shortlisted after the 18 October deadline before a public vote is held to choose names for the remaining 24 vehicles.

For more information about Zac;s fundraising campaign go to: https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/zac-oliver

For more information about the ‘name the gritter’ competition, go to: shropshire.gov.uk/gritters.