Many more eye-catching Metal Heads sculptures are in the pipeline this year thanks to a £2,000 Christmas donation from Minehead opticians.

Staff at the town’s Specsavers store were so impressed by local artist Steven Heard’s constant optimism, energy and desire to make the area a better place, they nominated him for a Yuletide surprise.

He was one of numerous people around the country who inspired company staff so much they were put forward as part of its Big Christmas Give.

Staff at the Minehead store presented Steven with a £2,000 gift voucher to be spent at a local builders’ merchant so he can continue making his popular Metal Heads sculptures well into 2022.

Steven is deaf and has mobility issues, as well as having ménière’s disease, diabetes, fibromyalgia, depression and anxiety, but this hasn’t stopped him creating 180 sculptures in his home town and further afield.

He can also regularly be seen on his mobility scooter, cleaning the streets’ kerbsides, weeding public footpaths and undertaking fundraising activities for the community.

Paul Bradford, optometrist director at Specsavers Minehead, said: “Steven really is an amazing man. He’s a local legend. His metal sculptures brighten up the town and encourage tourist visits to the area. There’s even a tourist map to enable people to find them.

“I met Steven two years ago on my first day here when he was cleaning around my doorway. I offered him a cup of tea and have provided spectacles for his sculptures ever since.

“Because he makes everyone smile with his sculptures, I wanted to make him smile and be aware that while we help him when he comes into the store, he also helps us by being so inspiring. He’s a genuinely lovely man who deserves the chance to feel celebrated.”

In addition to putting his sculptures around Minehead, Steven has given them to the RNLI, paramedics and nurses, and he is now aiming to spread them across Somerset and the South-West.

He said: “I was pleased and shocked to be given the gift voucher. It was very kind. They’re great people at the store and this gift will mean I can keep making my Metal Heads and, hopefully, they’ll be making people smile for miles around.”

For the latest updates about Steven’s work, find ‘Minehead Metal Heads’ on Facebook.