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Students raise $2,000 to send ‘jolly’ janitor on vacation

This is the moment a cleaner at a British university broke down in tears after students raised $2,063 to send him and his wife to Jamaica on vacation to see family.

Herman Gordon, who has worked at Bristol University for more than a decade, is described as “one of the most loved” members of its cleaning staff.

He is so well liked, a group of students raised money to give him a holiday.

A video shows a student hand an envelope of cash to a surprised Gordon, who immediately begins to tear up.

He wipes away tears with a cleaning cloth and hugs the student who gave it to him.

Gordon said: “I want to thank every one of you and God bless every one of you.”





The group of students started the fundraising page because they liked Gordon so much.

A post said: “The Jamaican cleaner in the med library is the jolliest man I have ever met, he makes me smile even when I’m in the deepest depths of revision or trying to be, if you wanna reason to smile go talk to him for a min or two.”

“Anyone who has been to the biomedical sciences library knows who Herman the cleaner is. Simply put, he is the epitome of happiness.”

“All year round, this man works hours on end to provide us with a clean working space in which to study. But most importantly, his undying positive energy and chit-chat has managed to turn many students’ dark days into positive ones filled with joy.”





“Whether you’re just feeling generally down and out or stressed out due to exams, Herman is always there to speak to you.”

“This legend proves that happiness is not about what you own, what job you have or how much money you’ve got, but about appreciating what you currently have in life even if it’s minimal.”

“If you know him well enough, you’ll know he likes growing his avocado plants and that it brings him inner joy.”

“This page is simply just to give back to Herman — in the form of providing enough funds so that he can catch a flight to Jamaica for a week this summer to see his family.”

“So if your day has ever been brightened by this ebullient, inspirational man, then if you could spare a few pounds to help us get him a week off this summer then I’m sure he’ll be very grateful.”





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