Calderdale Council staff and volunteers recognised for their achievements at Our Stars awards

The event, at the Shay Stadium, was last held in 2019, offering an opportunity to celebrate staff achievements, talent, resilience and kindness for the first time since the Covid pandemic.

The awards were presented by senior leadership and councillors, including the Mayor of Calderdale, Coun Angie Gallagher.

The entries were judged and shortlisted by a panel including the Council’s senior leadership team and representatives from Human Resources and Organisational Development. The winners were selected by the Council’s Chief Executive, Robin Tuddenham and the Leader of the Council, Coun Tim Swift.

The Leader of the Council, Coun Tim Swift, said: “The awards are about celebrating the achievements of Council employees and volunteers and highlighting the varied and vast amount of work that goes on each and every day.

“This is the first time we’ve been able to get together and host the awards since the COVID pandemic and I’m delighted we were finally able to recognise the incredible work that took place during the pandemic, with staff going above and beyond to deal with the unprecedented challenges faced by COVID. The stories of kindness and resilience demonstrated by so many were both heart-warming and inspirational.

“Choosing the winners was not an easy task, with a record number of nominations and an incredibly strong shortlist. Each entry reflected the hard work that goes in to demonstrating the values of the Council and the vision for the borough.”

The award winners are as follows:

Distinctive Borough Award

Winner – John Catanach, Technical Lead, Corporate Asset and Facilities Management

Collaborative Working Award – sponsored by AHR Building Consultancy

Winner - Public Health, the Homelessness Service and Christians Together Calderdale

Apprentice of the Year Award – sponsored by Calderdale College

Winner – Kimberley Wadsworth, Project Manager

Enterprising Award – sponsored by Lattitude7

Winner – Lennox Cadore – YOT sessional workerClimate Action Award

Winner – Mark Jennens, Carbon and Utilities Officer

Leadership Award

Winner - Tracey Proctor, Community Services Manager

Volunteer Team of the Year Award

Winner - Calderdale Countryside service

Wellbeing Award – sponsored by Dean Clough LtdWinner - Julia Caldwell, Safeguarding Partnership Manager

Excellence in Diversity and Inclusion Award – sponsored by Forbes Solicitors

Winner - Halifax Central Initiative - Janice Dawson, Waseem Hussain, Sarah Dyer, Shebana Sadiq, Jonny Cato, Mohamed Zameer Akhtar, Graham Gibbons

Team of the Year Award – sponsored by Code Building Solutions

Winner - Adult Day Care Services

Outstanding Act of Kindness Recognition Award - sponsored by YPO

13 nominations were received for this category, each illustrated how the nominee went above and beyond to show incredible kindness to others. It was too difficult to pick one winner, as all of the nominations were equally as amazing. Therefore, everyone who had been nominated for this award was recognised, with each congratulated on stage and receiving a certificate.

Winners:

Mick Hall, Community Safety Warden

Clement Court Care Team

Jane Holmes, Receptionist

Welfare Benefits Team

Ruth Mitchell and Yvonne Marshall - Shared Lives Officers

Heidi Wilson, Nicola Kyser-Forest, Sarah Goldthorpe, Carole Horner and Loretta Cooper – Housing Team

Reablement Team Leaders

Reablement Service

Personalised Long-Term Support Staff Teams

Danielle Wilson, Temporary Accommodation and Support Service Team Leader

Sam Pearson, Senior Highways Enforcement Officer

The Support In Mind Team

Ayesha Shakil, Social Worker

COVID Hero AwardTwo winners - Naomi Marquis, Health Improvement Specialist and Lynne Dignam, Vocational Instructor

During the pandemic, Naomi supported schools and other education settings to prevent and manage outbreaks of COVID-19 – a completely new role for her. She quickly developed new health protection skills, showing her amazing talent.Naomi recognised that each school and its community is distinctive and worked with them to support their response to COVID in ways that worked for them – contributing to the borough having relatively fewer school outbreaks than other areas.

Lynne works in the café at Higgins Close, supporting adults with learning disabilities to develop kitchen and food preparation skills. When the pandemic hit and the day services closed, Lynne provided care and support in several Calderdale care homes that were experiencing staff shortages. She worked night and day shifts, sometimes at short notice and always with a ‘happy to help’ attitude.

Chief Executive’s Award

Winner – Toni Kershaw, Customer Access Manager

Toni manages the Council’s Customer First team and has been recognised for the work that she has done over many years to improve the customer experience at Calderdale, supporting and developing her team to achieve their very best.

As the first Council in the country to introduce a Live Chat facility for customers, Toni has travelled across the country, sharing her experience and insight with other organisations.

She also deals with the many challenges faced by the service. As the first point of contact for many customers, Toni’s team responds to a vast array of issues and has been a key part of the Council’s response to emergency situations, such as flooding.

In choosing the winner, the Council’s Chief Executive, Robin Tuddenham spoke of Toni being the “embodiment of the very essence of the Council’s values” and praised the way she has dealt with challenges with grit, humour and style, adapting and also being a pioneer in her field, looking for new and efficient ways to support residents.

Leader of the Council’s AwardWinners - Mary Maguire, Team Leader, Transport services and Kate Richardson, Driver.

Mary and Kate work within the transport services team and have both had a crucial role in keeping people using the service safe throughout the pandemic. They were both recognised for the outstanding service they give to the young people of our borough and in gratitude for the way that they reacted to a sensitive situation.

Their continued efforts under immense pressure and the kindness they’ve demonstrated, encapsulate the spirit of Calderdale.