Employees of Cumbria County Council have been recognised for their commitment and professionalism in a special award ceremony, which for the first time included nominations from the public.
The public were invited to nominate candidates for the Employee/Service of the Year at the Excellence Awards ceremony held at Carlisle Racecourse on Friday night, January 19th. The winner of the Gold Award was the Mill Lane day care centre in Walney. Operations manager in older adult services Jennifer Swainson won the Silver Award and Ambleside librarian Fiona Bloor received the Bronze Award.
It was the second time the Excellence Awards have been held since their inception last year - but the allowing the public to nominate their favourite service or employee is a new innovation.
A series of other awards were also handed out to pay tribute to some of the thousands of council staff whose skill and dedication help to deliver and improve council services and build pride in the council and in Cumbria. The winners were chosen by an independent panel of judges.
County Council chief executive Peter Stybelski, who hosted the black tie event, said: "The Excellence Awards are very much a celebration of all that is good within Cumbria County Council. It's about celebrating excellent service and excellent achievements. Including public nominations was a great innovation that allowed our frontline staff to be recongnised and rewarded.
"At the ceremony itself we can only give out a few prizes to recognise a handful of our excellent, hardworking staff, but we shouldn't forget that there are so many other people working in all areas of the council also doing great work, serving the community and making a real contribution."
You can view a full-colour PDF of all the winners by following the link at the bottom of this page.
More than 70 nominations were received for the eight Excellence Award categories. The winners were:
Joint Working/Partnership
Gold: Cumbria Care - Older Adults Residential South / Access to Employment
Silver: Cumbria Adult Education Service / Skills for Life
Bronze: Cumbria Fire and Rescue Service / Cumbria Youth Offending Team
Backroom Brilliance
Gold: Corporate Web Team
Silver: Alison Wilson, Senior Admin and Research Officer
Bronze: Final Accounts Team, Finance and Central Services
The Chairman's Award
This award in recognition of exceptional achievement went to the Dalston-based Waste Management Team and the many people involved in the county-wide efforts to reduce the impact of household waste and increase recycling.
Equality and Diversity - (one award only)
Gold: Tina Hugo, Children and Young People's Disability Information Officer
Excellent Service
Gold: Lapstone House Residential Care Home, Millom
Silver: Cumbria Children's Information Service, Sure Start
Bronze: Woodlands Residential Care Home, Workington
Employee/Service of the Year
Gold: Mill Lane Day Care Centre, Walney
Silver: Jennifer Swainson, Operations Manager, Older Adult Services
Bronze: Fiona Bloor, Librarian, Ambleside Library
Employee of the Year
Gold: Steven Solsby, Barrow Area Engineer
Silver: Kerrianne Stephenson, Senior Teaching Assistant, Newman Catholic School, Carlisle
Bronze: Michelle Ennis, Senior Social Work Practitioner, Children's Services
Team of the Year
Gold: Project Team for National Sure Start Month
Silver: Elizabeth Welsh House (Carlisle), Cumbria Care
Bronze: Client Services Premises Unit (Skirsgill)
Notes for editors
ENDS
Media enquiries to Justin Hawkins, Media Officer on 01228 606334
View a full colour PDF of the winners at the link below:
Excellence Awards 2007 - See the winners (4.5Mb PDF)