Brenda Rarity
Nominated by: Anonymous
Department: Corporate Services & Transformation
Reason for nomination:
I cannot think of anyone more deserving of the "Lifetime Achievement Award" than Brenda Rarity in Exchequer Services. She’s always willing to help anyone in need, works all the hours under the sun, and is just an all round great person! 95% of the council will know or have spoken to this person at some point :)
Jackie Swepstone
Nominated by: Anonymous
Department: Place
Reason for nomination:
Jackie Swepstone has been a part of Derbyshire library service for over 40 years now. She remains consistently cheerful and is constantly looking at ways to improve and develop our service.
She has provided a high quality service to customers in Ilkeston library since the 1980's and has been particularly active in developing and maintaining the local history archives in the library. She has recently set on a number of local history volunteers to ensure this is continued even today. She has been a stalwart member of staff at Ilkeston library and has been Assistant in Charge at this library since approximately 2007.
In the early 1980's she passed the Library Assistant’s Certificate and successfully completed a portfolio giving her accreditation to CILIP (the library professional body) in the 2000's.
Here are some customer comments received last year as we celebrated the 120th year of Ilkeston Library which Jackie was involved in organising along with myself, Ruth Sharpe (her manager) and her colleague Anna Fearn, also Assistant in Charge at the library:
- ‘Ilkeston Library is an asset to the town. Always helpful and welcoming.Thank you’
- ‘Amazing library, so peaceful and calm, staff are amazing too’.
- ‘Our favourite place in Ilkeston – thank you for what you do.’
- ‘We are so lucky to have this beautiful heritage library in our town – with such lovely staff too.’
Helena Whiting
Nominated by: Rebecca Leveridge
Department: Adult Social Care and Health
Reason for nomination:
Helena has worked in adult care for many years starting out in I believe was Admin and then became a CCW and onwards to do her social work degree and becoming a very valued social worker. I’m nominating her for a lifetime achievement.
Helena is due to retire this year and I have known her for about 15 years, she was my magnificent mentor when I first started as a CCW and her patience and guidance has given me the building blocks to be the SCP I am today.
She has also mentored others officially and unofficially. She is a huge part of our team and our go to person for advice and guidance, she is always supportive and willing to help you work though a case. She is a valued member of the team and I’m not sure what we are going to do without her when she retires.
She has worked with other SW and SCP on complex cases giving guidance and support but also helping you to learn and develop at the same time. I am eternally grateful to have worked with her. I’m not sure how long Helena has worked for DCC but I’m sure it is over 25 years. I know from other colleagues that she has always been the most helpful person, even when her own personal life has been difficult with caring for her parents.
I feel she has helped support and develop other SW/SCP in their roles and I’m sure she has also supported student social workers develop into established workers. She is a very valued member of not only the Amber Valley east team but Amber Valley in general.
Mary Halliwell
Nominated by: Jon Farmer
Department: Children's Services
Reason for nomination:
I wish to nominate my wife, Mary Farmer, in recognition of over 40 years service for the authority. She began her career as a children's social worker, and, during her time with the authority has worked across the service; adoption, fostering, birth family support, private fostering and quality assurance.
I appreciate I might sound biassed but I can truthfully say, there is no one I have met in Derbyshire County Council with such breadth of knowledge as Mary - her nickname, 'the Oracle', was not bestowed lightly and, regardless of what task she is working on, she will routinely field calls from all and sundry, to check legislation...chances are she will know before Google does. She has seen the authority at it's best and, sadly, due to the nature of the job, at times when things have not been at their best - every time, she has stepped up to the challenge and, more often than not, gone above and beyond. I don't think there are many people who can legitimately say that they have been chased by an iguana, thanks to a disgruntled service user.
I did think, when she celebrated her 25th anniversary with the authority, in 2010, that she might consider winding down. Quite the opposite - she launched herself into her new post as panel chair, for the fostering service and, from there, in a task that many would consider fraught, supporting the adoption team in birth family support and now bringing order to the world of private fostering.
During her time at Derbyshire, an authority she has always remained loyal to, she has placed countless children into long term, safe, stable and secure fostering placements - she has overseen just as many adoptions, working the clock round to ensure appropriate matches - she routinely tests and checks herself, navigating a constantly changing landscape of legislation - she has remained clear headed, empathetic but always critical and curious, whether working with birth family, carers, step parents and adopters; even handed, professional, polite and courteous throughout - she has won, and retained, the respect of the many teams she has been a part of and managers she has collaborated with or for.
The one constant that has stayed with her, and it is a quality that has been passed on to anyone who has worked with her (or, in my case, lived with her), is being 'child focussed'. Even now, as Mary approaches the end of her career, emails, reports, Teams chats and conversations will start, and finish, with a reminder that child is at the heart of any decision, and those decisions should be working solely towards a positive outcome.