The night the STARS came out to shine!

 

 

 

 

 

 

The awards are an opportunity for the Council to publicly recognise the unstinting work of its finest employees.

And the crème de la crème of the civic workforce thoroughly enjoyed their spell in the limelight as they were honoured by their colleagues.

The sponsorship-funded event recognises the efforts of staff members who have gone the extra mile to serve the borough.

Winning teams and individuals were selected from more than 500 nominations submitted by members of the public, partners, Councillors and colleagues.

And the event, held at Southend Leisure and Tennis Centre and compered by BBC Look East's David Whiteley, proved the perfect showcase for the authority's shining lights.

Chief Executive, Rob Tinlin, said: "As we continue to work through tough times, making difficult decisions about how we best use our increasingly scarce resources, it is more important than ever that we recognise the hard work and achievements of our staff.

"Despite the challenges the Council has been faced with our staff have continued to go above and beyond their line of duty to provide excellent services.

"Our employees are our biggest asset and we recognise what a credit they are to the organisation.

"Their commitment and determination has driven major improvements across the Council and it is vital that we acknowledge their accomplishments.

"These awards are so important because the winners are nominated not just by their colleagues and our elected members but also by the residents and businesses of the town.

"I would like to pay tribute to all our sponsors, without whom this awards evening would not be possible.

"Despite the difficult economic circumstances they have risen to the occasion once again to enable us to host an event which is 100 per cent sponsorship-funded."

Introducing our STARS and why they won:

Winner of the Mayor's STAR Award, sponsored by Adventure Island: Carol Compton

Carol, who heads up the Council's Youth Offending Service, received this prestigious award because of her consistent, determined and supportive approach during a very difficult and turbulent year within her service area, which has taken on added responsibilities. She was recognised for approaching those new responsibilities with the same passion, enthusiasm and support for all staff, that she always has, and for the way she successfully juggles her strategic and operational responsibilities with her management of staff to ensure that all her services run smoothly and effectively.

Winner of the Safe Award, sponsored by Mace: Workplace Health, Safety & Wellbeing Team

Over the past 18 months Richard Potticary and Steve Wall have been instrumental in moving forward the revitalisation of health and safety within the Council. Helping to set up and organise the Council's Strategic Health & Safety Group to drive forward this agenda, they also played a leading role in commissioning and supporting RoSPA to undertake a Quality Safety Audit of the Council in November of 2010, in which the authority achieved a Level 1 grade on a scale of 1 to 5, with Level 5 being the highest grade attainable. A second audit was carried out at the beginning of 2011 and thanks to Richard and Steve's dedication and commitment the Council achieved a Level 4 grade.

Winner of the Clean Award, sponsored by Environmental Application Ltd: Environmental Care Team

This team was recognised for the incredible work it does in tackling negative perceptions of anti-social behaviour by combating graffiti across the borough. One resident who nominated the team said: "I am a resident of Southend and noticed graffiti in my own road. When I was out and about I bumped into a lovely member of the team who said he would go and check it out immediately. It was quickly removed and I consider that excellent customer service."

Winner of the Healthy Award, sponsored by Adventure Island: Southend Hospital Social Work Team

The hospital social work team has consistently performed to an excellent level throughout the past year. They work in an extremely pressurised environment and are currently undergoing change related to new ways of working. Despite the necessary upheaval they have remained positive and committed to providing excellent service to those they are tasked with helping and their families in facilitating safe and timely discharges from hospital, often exceeding their weekly targets.

Winner of the Prosperous Award, sponsored by London Southend Airport: Emma Cooney

Emma pulled together a complex funding bid to very tight deadlines which enabled the forward momentum of Southend's economic development and regeneration to continue. Calling upon resources from other colleagues she managed to pull together a highly credible funding bid to central government from scratch in less than two weeks using her ingenuity and knowledge of the economic development field and working extremely long hours.

Winner of the Excellent Award, sponsored by Updata Infrastructure: Tony Wagstaff

Tony works with young offenders as part of his role with the Integrated Youth Support Service. He runs a gardening project which encourages young people who are hard to engage with to support each other in learning new skills. They have recently been entering gardens at Kew and were awarded a prize this year. Their nursery project also won a coveted bronze award at the Hampton Court Flower Show. Tony was recognised for the tireless work he does for young people which is both emotionally and physically challenging. Tony's work has gone a long way to motivate a significant number young people in Southend to make a positive change in their lives.

Winner of the Community Cohesion Award, sponsored by T Cribb & Sons: Simon Wallace

Simon is Community and Diversity Manager with the Libraries Service and is deeply involved in the local community. He has a keen understanding of how to help deliver projects that improve the quality of residents' lives and is constantly pushing forward new library schemes aimed at bringing services to hard-to-reach groups. Under Simon's guidance library home visits are more than just a book delivery system and for homebound residents this service has become a vital lifeline to the world. Simon was also recognised for his work in forging new partnerships with external organisations. One nominee said of him that he "helped keep the beating heart of Southend's library system alive and healthy."

Winner of the Customer Service (Support) Award, sponsored by T Cribb & Sons: Ian Anderson

ICT officer Ian was recognised over the role he played in helping set up the Council's new training facility at Tickfield and the continued support he provided during its first year of operation. During the initial setting up of Tickfield Ian was always on hand, working late and generally going the extra mile to ensure both the centre as a whole and individual colleagues were ready for opening. He has also worked tirelessly over the last few months to implement the new IP telephony system.

Winner of the Customer Service (Customer Facing) Award, sponsored by Vodafone: Community Outreach Delivery Team

Members of this team were recognised for the efforts they make to reach those members of the community that others would rather avoid and making a real difference to people's lives by improving literacy and numeracy rates. One nominee said: "I've already passed my level 1 numeracy and have also passed my level 2 practice. My tutors break down the questions so you learn and remember very easily." Another said: "They always took the time to explain something in a way I understand. They give their undivided attention and are very patient with everyone."

Winner of the Delivering Excellence (Innovation) Award, sponsored by Skanska: Jenni Naish and Ellen Butler

The take up of free school meals in Southend has historically been significantly lower than eligibility, but as part of the Council's strategy to tackle child poverty Jenni and her team consulted with schools in a bid to tackle the possible barriers facing parents in applying for this vital resource. By far the biggest barrier was the need for parents to have to go into school to discuss their financial position, so Jenni and Ellen worked together to develop and implement an on-line/telephone eligibility checking process through the Council's contact centre which dispensed with the need for applications to be made in person at schools.

Winner of the Leadership Excellence Award, sponsored by Vodafone: Karen Wright

Over the past two years Karen's role has expanded as she graduated from being Group Manager of Registration Services to Group Manager for Registration, Facilities Management and, latterly, Passenger Transport.

Despite this Karen has strived to improve the quality of services offered to customers while simultaneously improving the employee engagement survey scores for most of the the service she is responsible for. She was recognised for being decisive and proactive in delivering savings whilst at the same time maintaining morale across all departments.

Winner of the Partnership Award, sponsored by Pinnacle psg: Kelly Roach

Housing Options Officer Kelly took it upon herself to set up a vital outreach role which enables her to assist the borough's homeless community in understanding the help they are entitled to. Colleagues have described her dedication and enthusiasm as "second to none", qualities which are helping her make a real difference to people's lives. One nominee said: "Kelly is a brilliant worker with the patience of a saint. She has a wonderful way with the clients, even when they are being a little difficult. She always takes the time to listen and is always willing to help them with any issues that they need assistance with, showing every service user respect dignity and ensuring they feel valued."

Winner of the Team of the Year Award, sponsored by Updata Infrastructure: Facilities and Passenger Transport Team.

This team pulled together and managed to remain committed and focused during a very difficult time caused by restructuring, management change and retirements. Despite this disruption the team has contined to receive plaudits from internal & external clients alike, raising the standard of service it provides. One nominee said: "Never have I known such an unsung team be so conscientious and caring in all their duties. They always go that extra mile to make sure that every customer, internal or external, receives the best service."

Winner of the Employee of the Year Award, sponsored by Simply Better Services and Winns Security: Ed Hayden

Ed has been recognised for the outstanding work he did on the new Southend Swimming and Diving Centre at Garon Park as well as the role he played in project managing the Victoria Gateway scheme. The diving centre is the envy of authorities up and down the country and has been identified as a pre-London 2012 training venue by the GB diving team. Ed's cheery demeanour has endeared him to colleagues and he manages to keep a smile on his face even in the most trying of circumstances.