Staff Awards: And the winners are…

Staff from across the Trust were celebrating and celebrated on Wednesday as the winners of this year's Staff Awards were announced.

See the photos from the event on our Facebook page: http://bit.ly/awpphotos

All of this year's finalists, along with their guests and those who nominated them, gathered at the Assembly Rooms in Bath for an event designed to recognise and reward outstanding contributions to improving the lives of service users, carers and colleagues.

Hazel Watson, director of nursing, introduced the event which was compèred by Mike Relph, assistant chief executive. The first award, presented by director of people Julie Thomas, was a new category this year - the Helping Me Feel Better award. This category had five very worthy winners, one from each of our strategic business units.

Following an unforgettable performance by service users and staff from the Forget Me Not centre of 'Why, why, why, dementia?' - a song about their experiences to the tune of Delilah, Alison Paine, non-executive director, presented the Excellence in Leadership, Changing Attitudes, and Innovation and Improvement awards.

Nadine Morgan from specialist drug and alcohol services spoke about the new mmagik* club drugs service before non-executive director Lee O'Bryan presented to the winners and runners up of the remaining four categories: Beyond the Call of Duty; Making a Difference Behind the Scenes; the Volunteers award; and, the culmination of the event, the Lifetime Achievement award. In an unusual move the judges, unable to decide between the three very different but equally outstanding finalists, took the unprecedented step of making three Lifetime Achievement awards this year.

The winners of each category are as follows.

Helping Me Feel Better
Winner for liaison and later life: Wendie Burgess
Winner for adult community services: Simon Hall
Winner for adult inpatient services: Christine Hughes
Winner for specialised and secure services: Alistair Waller
Winner for specialist drug and alcohol services: Penny Stanbury

Excellence in Leadership
Winner: Hannah Toogood
Runners up: Dave Grundy; Madelaine Lockmuller

Changing Attitudes:
Winner: Charlotte Richards
Runners up: Bristol autism spectrum service; Jo Green

Innovation and Improvement
Winner: Lime unit
Runners up: Beechlydene; Gerrie Holloway and Jane Bolster

Beyond the Call of Duty
Winner: Dan Meron
Runners up: Danny Hill; Alison Ingram

Making a Difference Behind the Scenes
Winner: Andrew Hazel
Runners up: Sarah Cullum; Linda Hutchings

Volunteers
Winner: Joyce Starkie
Runners up: Emilia Love; Gladys Medcroft

Lifetime Achievement
Winner: Helen Abbott
Winner: Pat Johnson
Winner: Ray Ward

Many congratulations to all the winners and finalists - and to the many other staff and volunteers who were nominated this year. The hosts and presenters all agreed that it was a real privilege to honour and celebrate the hard work and dedication of staff and volunteers in this way.