Alex Frost
Nominated by: Tayla Donnelly
Department: Childrens Services
Reason for Nomination:
I would like to nominate Alex Frost for the rising star award. Alex started with us in August 2022 and has flourished in her role. Despite being in her induction period, Alex has gone above and beyond to support the needs of her own team and the locality, through a period when we experienced many staffing challenges.
Alex hit the ground running and was keen to learn and understand the processes that assist in delivering the best outcomes for the children, young people and families that we support. Throughout her induction period, Alex set herself achievable and measurable targets to ensure she could provide the best service possible.
Alex supports a busy social care team, with increased pressures and demands and tight deadlines. Feedback from Alex’s team has shown how much they appreciate her support, which is highlighted in a compliment from the team manager to thank Alex for her hard work in supporting her team and going above and beyond in a friendly and helpful manner despite the chaos her team were experiencing.
Icannot thank Alex enough for the outstanding support she has delivered, especially during our staffing challenges. Despite being 2 months into the role, Alex was more than capable of picking up a multitude of tasks for the locality, including complex children in care admissions. I am very proud of Alex for the calm and efficient way she approaches her work, and how keen she is to learn and develop. Alex has remained calm and productive during extremely busy periods.
She has fit into the team effortlessly and goes out of her way to ensure that tasks are completed to a high standard. I can only continue to thank Alex for her hard work, I have no doubt that she will go far.
Amy Charlesworth
Nominated by: David Arnold
Department: Place
Reason for nomination:
I would like to nominate Amy Charlesworth for the Rising Star Award. She is currently a Planning Apprentice within Planning Services and over the last two years has shown exceptional maturity in her learning and application of planning issues.
She quickly grasped how to apply a balanced approach in considering progressively complex County planning matters and is now supporting with a large sand and gravel site in the Trent Valley. She has positively embraced matrix management and is willing to work across all service areas including the enforcement team. waste policy, developer contributions and minerals plan.
The quality of her work has been excellent and she has naturally grasped the Derbyshire way in engaging with all our customers, which is helpful and understanding. Amy also actively engages supports Derbyshire Planning Officer Groups and regional Technical Advisory Board for waste and works closely with external partners, The level of support she provides is again supportive demonstrating high quality partner engagement.
Amy has potential to grow a long way in the planning profession and her personality and qualities will provide strong foundations continue develop a successful career.
Nominated by: Justine Proudler
Department: Place
Reason for nomination:
I would like to nominate Amy for the Rising Star award. Amy joined the authority in September 2021 as an Apprentice Planner. Amy started her planning career with the council working mostly online during the COVID-19 period. Amy showed great resilience and initiative and committed to her learning, achieving excellent results as part of her university course.
Since joining the authority Amy has excelled in her work, whilst Amy is still learning as part of her apprenticeship she works to a very high standard, she takes on more and more complex work and is always willing assist in any areas of the service and in the wider department. Amy has embraced the planning work we undertake, the ethos of our service plan and has shown a particular interest in mineral planning. This is highly complex area of work which not only requires a practical understanding of the industry but also of complex legislation and large amounts of detail. Mineral planning is an area where experienced planners are in short supply, not just in local government but also in the industry.
In my opinion Amy has the potential to become a very skilled and knowledgeable planner of the future. Amy is confident engaging with the public, applicants and other stakeholders, is able to work independently and make decisions but understands the importance of partnership working and will always seek advice when needed.
Amy has been visiting sites as part of her training and we have received very complimentary feedback from a multinational company about Amy, showing great interest and asking pertinent questions. Amy has a pleasant and warm demeanour, is always courteous, respectful and willing to help her colleagues. Amy is a real credit to the service and the council.
Annette Appleton
Nominated by: Anonymous
Department: Adult Social Care and Health
Reason for nomination:
I am nominating Annette for her work supporting the development of the health and wellbeing board throughout 2022. Annette moved into the strategic intent team last January following a brief period in the Public Health admin team where she led the team throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. Prior to that Annette has worked in the private sector and schools so is very new to public sector work and the speciality of Public Health / since starting Annette has taken on every challenge she has been given, has done it positively and always tried her best. Annette has agreed to undertake an open university course to further her knowledge in public health and has a real passion for matters related to mental health and children’s and young people’s public health. Her skills knowledge and experience are growing all the time and I am confident she will progress to other roles within Public Health and will continue to demonstrate her team working and leadership skills.
Ben Winebloom
Nominated by: Cathy Middleton
Department: Adult Social Care and Health
Reason for nomination:
I would like to nominate our apprentice Ben Winebloom who is based at Swadlincote Area Office within the administration team.
Ben joined us in August 2022 and has grown greatly so soon into his first ever working environment, Ben’s confidence and maturity when speaking with service users and empathy at such a quick start to his career.
His work within the office and college work is of the highest quality, he adheres to all council policies and always looking to further his knowledge to look for progression.
If asked, the team will all agree that he has had a massive positive impact within the team. I will add as a result I can see Ben completing his apprentice at the highest level.
Bryde Beighton
Nominated by: Jane Megson
Department: Adult Social Care and Health
Reason for nomination:
I nominate Bryde Beighton as a service Manager for the Scheduling Team in Adult care. Bryde has become our shining bright star with running and managing our team. She has taken the scheduling Team up to another level, with giving us all belief with ourselves and giving us the concrete building bricks to make this Team what it is today, - A firm Structure .
The team has now grown and has the belief and confidence and most importantly knowledge of how we can take adult care to the next level and make things work more smoothly and most importantly efficiently without compromising on Care.
Bryde gives us all encouragement and the correct tools to move us all forward as a team. It is the first time the scheduling team have felt that they do make a difference within the Team and Bryde works tirelessly with the team individuals and as a team as a whole.
Bryde has now given the vision and bright light with the Team to make adult care a great career opportunity for all to work in and will always encourage those who want to move up the ladder the tools to achieve their dreams and aspirations.
A Great team Leader who listens, Actions and follows through on actions taken. In all, one great Leader taking us through a new vision within Adult care and who can think outside the box and keep adult care working well and giving fresh new ideas. In all ONE GREAT LEADER!!!!!
Nominated by: Anonymous
Department: Adult Social Care and Health
Reason for nomination:
Bryde started in a leadership post in the Scheduling in January 2022. She has moved to managing this service after a successful career in Adult Care working in Business Services. She is in a temporary post that has been brought in to support the development of the Scheduling service. She was able to immediately get stuck into the work of the team, and quickly understand complex systems and processes.
Since being in post Bryde has demonstrated work to an exceptional standard and has been fundamental in achieving our aspirations as a team. She has demonstrated exceptional leadership in the team and build a positive team atmosphere which focusses on commitment to high standards but supporting wellbeing and peer relationships She has supported the Team to achieve some key goals: Increased telephony responsiveness, improved relationships with DSOs, improved quality scheduling, making the most of our systems.
We have seen massive benefits from her ability to build collaborative relationships with the full range of our stakeholder network and we have seen a significant improvement in our relationships with colleagues across the department, as a result of her communication and influencing skills.
She has been able to train and model excellent line management and leadership skills to the Team Leaders that she supports. This has empowered them in their own professional development and given them the ability to provide good quality line management themselves.
She is committed to supporting the department achieve its objective of supporting more people to access short term services that enable the people of Derbyshire to be as independent as possible. She continuously seeks to drive efficiencies in our systems and processes and advocates for appropriate change when required. I can't think of a single day where she hasn't had a great new idea to address the challenges that we're facing (whether big or small).
She has been a fantastic ‘right hand woman’ and I know that I can trust her with any task. She is an absolute dream to manage and I count myself extremely fortunate to have her in the team for this period, as she will inevitably rise up the ranks and continue to add value to our services. A absolute star indeed!
Nominated by: Zuzanna Forster-Fake
Department: Adult Social Care and Health
Reason for nomination:
I am nominating Bryde in the rising star category. The work she has done since she has been in post has made a positive impact for the people of Derbyshire, supporting the most effective use of our home care service and supporting a better model of staffing across direct care. Despite her position and her time of service in the organisation she has taken a lead role in project work and worked towards making improvements to the service. She has also significantly improved the relationship between home care teams and the scheduling team, building up trust between those colleagues. I am nominating her in particular for her involvement in two pieces of work for Adult Care. Firstly, she has been involved in setting up and contributing to daily meetings between direct care, scheduling, brokerage and assessor staff which is improving flow through short term services and making the best use of all our care resources. Secondly, she has led on a piece of project work that is looking at a central relief pool arrangement for care staff, which seeks to support better use of relief care workers to reduce agency spend.
Carys Price
Nominated by: Nagihan Kot-Maycock
Department: Adult Social Care and Health
Reason for nomination:
Carys Price has started working in the business services team back in June 2022 and since the day she started she has gone above and beyond for everyone she works with. As Carys' line manager, a lot of people both internal and external have been singing her praises to me. Carys is particularly great when it comes to helping people with tasks they feel overwhelmed with, even if it is not in her job description. But the most beautiful thing about her is the fact that she makes it look effortless and always helps with a smile on her face. Carys is very good at making everyone feel valued and really contributes to the reputation of the council with her amazing work ethic.
Daisy Baggallay
Nominated by: Annette Appleton
Department: Adult Social Care and Health
Reason for nomination:
Daisy has made an important and valued contribution to the Strategic Intent Team within Public Health since joining us in August 2022. Daisy is forward thinking, proactive and shows real potential. Daisy's work is always exemplary and she often goes above and beyond to assist all members of the public health department that she supports. Public Health is new to Daisy and she has shown a real enthusiasm for the work of the department.
Ella Hogan
Nominated by: Anonymous
Department: Adult Social Care and Health
Reason for nomination:
Ella Hogan is an inspirational colleague, she is an excellent mental health social worker, senior practitioner and practice educator. Ella proactively encourage the development of others and supports them to achieve their aspirations. Ella is the consummate professional, sensitive to others, open to feedback and actively listens. Ella is an excellent practice educator and a supportive colleague.
Ella Vogel
Nominated by: Robin Heath
Department: Childrens Services
Reason for nomination:
I am nominating Ella Vogel for the Rising Star award. Ella began at White Hall Centre just before the start of the Pandemic during a particularly difficult time for outdoor education. Her influence on the centre has been one of unerring positivity, something that has been essential to maintaining an improving morale during lockdown. Ella's work with children in the community has been invaluable to their mental health in the post-pandemic world, with many young people mentioning Ella by name in impact surveys as being particularly beneficial to them. Ella has gone from one of the newest members of staff, with little experience in the industry, to one of the most valuable and reliable in a remarkably short period of time. As a result, Ella has taken on several additional responsibilities, including being joint lead in working with vulnerable people and young people with SEN, and taking the lead on environmental sustainability and education at the centre. Ella has been particularly financially efficient in her work towards sustainability and her efforts look likely to make significant savings for the centre. Ella's good work is an ongoing benefit to Derbyshire young people and White Hall centre
Emily Statham
Nominated by: Jessica Jones
Department: Childrens Services
Reason for nomination:
I am nominating Emily Statham for the Rising Star Award! Emily was previously a child in care herself and then a part of the leaving care service - priding herself on wanting to make a difference for other children in care and young people Emily started as a business services apprentice, however with dedication and determination in a short space of time Emily is now a Team Co-ordinator CS UASC team, where she is highly valued and knowledgeable with time and patience to undergo her own job role, however always having the time to help others within not only her own team but other teams!
With pride and commitment she puts time and effort not only into her job role but also into the care leavers council which she has been a part of for a number of years now, providing children in care and young people with a voice to be heard, to ensure changes for the better are being made and with the aim that Derbyshire achieves its full potential for their children in care and care leavers. Through Emily's role in the care leavers council she has already demonstrated the passion and determination with dedication to the councils vision and values, without young people like Emily Derbyshire county council would not be able to hear what's best for children in care and young people and make a difference - she uses her own personal life experiences to do this!
I believe as Emily expands on her knowledge, skills and experience she will pursue further carers within the council and have a positive impact on the council, she is an asset to have within children services and the UASC team are very lucky to have her a part of their team!
Nominated by: Debbie Higham-Knowles
Department: Childrens Services
Reason for nomination:
Emily is an ideal candidate for the rising star award as she consistently delivers high quality work transitioning from apprentice to team coordinator within four months.
Emily has made a positive impact within the leaving care service in particular the unaccompanied asylum seeking team. Emily’s commitment to the vision and values is demonstrated as in addition to her role she is a national leaving care service champion at which she has presented the work of the care leaver council (next generation).
Emily continues to develop and learn maintaining relationships with the team and young people. It is clear that Emily will continue to develop and progress through the service
Nominated by: Polly Wilson
Department: Childrens Services
Reason for nomination:
Emily has progressed from our apprentice on to a full time role, she is now supporting and mentoring our new apprentice to achieve and develop. Emily is a positive role model for our care experienced young people having the lived experience of being a care leaver herself she is conscientious, always welcoming and amazing at her role. Emily is a key player in the next generation promoting and advocating for all of our kids by wanting the best for them and our service. Emily started her apprenticeship March 2022 moving on to Team Coordinator September 2022.
Emily Wilton
Nominated by: Eleanor Pearce-Brown
Department: Childrens Services
Reason for nomination:
I am nominating this individual for the Rising star award. This individual has gone above and beyond to support the needs of the children during family time. The have piloted a scheme of work that they came up with to ensure the children are as prepared for family time as possible which include creating a getting to know me form which the children complete with the family time worker in the home prior to the sessions taking place. It includes information about the centres, who will be supervising the sessions and what family time will look like. She has also gone above and beyond to create positive relationships with parents, including supporting them during wish you well final family times. All this work has helped children settle into their family time and feel supported and prepared for what is to come. It has allowed them to gain the most out of the family time by reducing anxieties, building relationships up with the family time support workers and has helped parents to also feel more comfortable. It has contributed towards life story work. Her work is always of a high standard, she tailors her support to meet the individual needs of the families and works hard to ensure the best possible outcomes. Emily is supportive of her peers and problem solves to ensure families have the best family time they can. Emily is an absolute asset to the council! This support is ongoing, in Emily’s everyday practice.
Gavin Morris
Nominated by: Kirsty Coupland
Department: Childrens Services
Reason for nomination:
Gavin is simply incredible. He started working as a Support Teacher within the Specialist Service for Special Educational Needs in September 2021, having previously been a class teacher. He adapted quickly to the new role, embracing its many challenges and immediately began to effectively support SEN children, their families and schools in ensuring the best possible outcomes and inclusion. His work has continually been of an exceptionally high quality despite challenging circumstances, such as high caseload numbers, having to provide cover and supporting children with complex needs far outside of his past experience.
In May 2022, the annual monitoring feedback for Gavin was glowing with all stakeholders being incredibly appreciative of his work. In their feedback, schools described Gavin as ‘brilliant’, ‘having a wealth of knowledge’, ‘giving expert advice’ and ‘an absolute asset’. Comments were also made about his effectiveness in adapting to the individual needs of children and the excellent support he offers school staff. One parent described him as being ‘approachable, helpful and a credit to your service’, another commented on the excellent communication he has with school and home.
In addition to supporting his caseload pupils, Gavin has been proactive in leading whole service development - something above and beyond his remit. He is currently leading a team from across the service to introduce practice in relation to external file sharing. This was his own initiative and one that will enable our whole service to better coproduce work with colleagues in schools and in turn lead to improved outcomes for children. His other whole service achievements include delivering training to upskill our already specialist team of teachers and playing a leading role in our team improvement plan by looking at how our work in schools can have maximum impact through focusing on empowering school staff in their ability to support pupils within SEN. I could easily go on but in summary… Gavin is a dedicated, hard-working, highly regarded member of the Derbyshire team who deserves recognition for all he has achieved for our service in the last 16 months.
Gemma Cooper
Nominated by: Alison O'Connor
Department: Childrens Services
Reason for nomination:
Gemma Cooper is a nqsw in children's social care she has worked above and beyond the level expected and has made a positive impact for children in the families she works with, she has worked hard to engage and bring about safe change for families whilst also empowering them to continue forward
Greg Stenson
Nominated by: Anonymous
Department: Adult Social Care and Health
Reason for nomination:
Greg is an inspirational new member of the Public Health team. Since joining us, his talent and commitment to addressing population health outcomes has been exemplary. Whilst relatively new to Public Health, Greg has spearheaded our ‘Gambling Related Harm’ approach, which is seen currently as the most comprehensive in the East Midlands region.
He has formed relationships with other departments quickly such as Adult Education and he has led the development of front line training (delivered by Adult Education) to support staff and partners to understand and respond to the risks associated with gambling. He has also engaged the Royal Society for Public Health who have supported us to develop and evaluate our training strategy, to make sure it meets the level 2 training criteria. Since launching training sessions in November 2022, 118 frontline workers across the health system, VCSE, and other partners have registered for the training tackling gambling-related harm training course. Greg continues to champion this agenda in numerous other ways including:
- co-ordinating a safer gambling match at Chesterfield F.C. where 500 gambling awareness leaflets were disseminated, that were co-produced by the council's PH, Chesterfield F.C., Gamcare, British Red Cross, Mentell, and YGAM
- working with Comms to drive the Safer Gambling Week campaign that reached 215,000 people
- ensuring that the Office for Health Improvement and Disparities (OHID) selected Derbyshire as the Midlands case study for conducting a deep dive into specialist treatment - we were invited to collaborate due to our robust Gambling Related Harm strategy
Greg is a total asset to the public health team and to the council as a whole. I’m excited to watch his career develop.
Hannah Brown
Nominated by: Vicky Green
Department: Childrens Services
Reason for nomination:
Hannah has been an apprentice with the council and was successfully recruited as a Level 1 instructor in October. She is motivated, enthusiastic and has taken a leading role in a new project working with vulnerable young people. Hannah is a superb role model for both the young people and the staff team.
Nominated by: Sian Lewis
Department: Childrens Services
Reason for nomination:
I am nominating Hannah Brown for rising star. Hannah began her career in the outdoors in September 2019; where she started a Level 2 apprenticeship being an outdoor activity instructor, however when COVID-19 hit this work environment changed to working with Children in care and Children in Need. Hannah has expressed her interest in working with these individuals and has since then helped set up MOMU (moving on and moving up), where Hannah has taken part in many training days to help develop herself to be a better individual and instructor to work with these individuals. Hannah has set up work that these young people can do, that will meet educational criteria to help towards qualifications that elsewise they may not have been able to gain as these individuals are no in full time education. MOMU is a 16 week course where these young people attend Lea Green several times as week before finishing off the course with a residential, in this time they complete activities, course work and first aid courses for example.
Hannah wanted this idea to be fair; therefore she set up and interview process to ensure the people who were really interested and would have benefited the most were taken in to consideration for this process. Hannah has also ensured the funding for this is used wisely by attending training days and meetings, to ensure that what is delivered meets the criteria for qualifications for these individuals to make sure that it isn't just a fun experience, it is still an educational experience as this is what otherwise these individuals would miss out on. Hannah has also listened to not only what the individuals need but also what their family / carers need and therefore changed the start and finish times to meet the needs on taxi times, or other siblings having to be taken to and from schools, which has allowed for more young people being able to participate in MOMU. Hannah is really aspirational about their future and really wants to contribute to their future, she really cares about the work she does and wants to make a difference to their lives.
Hannah McClean
Nominated by: Robert Hayward
Department: Childrens Services
Reason for nomination:
Hannah’s career started in the private sector before joining the Local Authority in 2019. Taking every opportunity to thrive and further develop her career and skill sets within the public sector environment. Apprenticeship qualifications combined with having the opportunity to play key roles in a number of programmes have enabled Hannah to springboard her career. Hannah quickly demonstrated skills and knowledge that aligned and understood the council priorities and values.
Demonstrating flexibility within rapidly changing environments, during the COVID-19 pandemic she stepped up and took on roles which have enabled her to fast track her career forward. What started as a support role soon developed in to leading projects ensuring our work supported children and families across Derbyshire, delivering resilient communities, high performance and value for money.
Supporting the delivery of a complex digital devices scheme which had a significant impact across the whole of Derbyshire, locality teams and schools. Hannah was able to utilise her skills and knowledge of the scheme to develop, deliver and manage aspects of the project, ensuring accuracy and integrity, whilst dealing with a wide range of stakeholders including families, schools, social workers to name a few. This is just one example of the many which demonstrate high quality and positive impact within Childrens Services. Hannah started as a grade 6 level 2 business services apprentice in September 2019. She focused her drive and motivation to complete that apprenticeship within 6 months whilst embedding and taking every opportunity to develop her skills within the Childrens Services programme team.
She was then successful in gaining a temporary full time project officer role in September 2021 and has since almost complete her level 3 team leadership and management qualification, with plans already for a level 4 or 5 qualification.
Heidi Whitcher
Nominated by: Grace Randles
Department: Corporate Services and Transformation
Reason for nomination:
I am nominating this person for the Rising Star Award because they joined our team on 28th Feb 2022 as a Coroner's Officer. This person has not only gained the knowledge and experience of the coroners service but has become a key member of our team. They have provided coronial / bereavement support to the community of Derbyshire in a sympathetic, empathetic and professional way. They are accurate in their work, always keen to learn new aspects of the role and deliver the service to the highest standard we can expect.
Before becoming a Coroner's Officer they worked at Call Derbyshire for the council. This person is invested in the council's values and beliefs and is always adjustable to any changes within out service and also within the council as a whole. The coroners service has been undergoing a transformational period and they have contributed to this by being amenable to change, supporting the team they work within and positively receiving change.
This person has showed great potential for promotion within our service and also within other services within the council. They are young, enthusiastic, great team player but also work incredibly well independently.
James Goodall
Nominated by: Tina Adams
Department: Corporate Services and Transformation
Reason for nomination:
James became a Finance Business Partner under the recent Finance restructure, which was a progression from his previous position. James shows great initiative in dealing with challenging issues that arise, he is always happy to help resolve issues and always offers suggestions and solutions and can think outside the box to resolve departmental issues whilst still maintaining a corporate overview and working within prescribed frameworks. James is never too busy to help and in the absence of his line manager I can always rely on him to step up and go and find the information requested. I often get positive feedback from other managers who James has assisted. He has an engaging and professional manner and is always ensure he wears his corporate hat when dealing with departmental issues. He is positive and a great advocate for the council and I expect to see him progress to higher positions in the near future, definitely a rising star in the Finance Community.
Jessica Cooper
Nominated by: Yvonne Taylor
Department: Childrens Services
Reason for nomination:
Jessica Cooper Jess has demonstrated high quality work across her case load and receiving a lot of positive feedback from families. Jess has also had some challenging cases and in reference to one of these in particular had made a positive impact demonstrated a commitment to the child's needs. Jess is inspiration and committed to her role and supporting families to make positive changes even when challenging and at difficult times. This was particularly evident when we had to move a young person on who was very challenging.
Jessica Fisher
Nominated by: Anonymous
Department: Childrens Services
Reason for nomination:
I am nominating Jessica Fisher for the rising star award. She has been a cleaner at Lea Green for 10 years and has recently applied for and been appointed to a management position within the centre. She has made improvements in service delivery, purchasing systems and value for money, and managed catering and domestic staff extremely well.
She recently appointed a new cleaner from the Ukraine and went to the trouble of translating all the the council's appointment documents to cyrillic to make her feel welcome. In her personal life she began kick boxing a year ago and has just been awarded most improved participant in her group. She is kind and unflappable and grows in confidence every day.
Nominated by: Ian Wilson
Department: Childrens Services
Reason for nomination:
Jess has stepped up from being a full time cleaner and kitchen assistant to taking on the role as Facilities management assistant. Whilst stepping up Jess has taken on the role and showed initiative and commitment in the role. Jess is happy within the role and will be a strong candidate when the role is advertised.
Jessica Jones
Nominated by: Lucy Griffiths
Department: Childrens Services
Reason for nomination:
Jess is an enthusiastic and positive individual who is hard working and professional at all times. I believe Jess is a rising star because of the time and quality she puts into her work as well as demonstrating commitment to the role and her responsibilities.
John Temperton
Nominated by: Allen Shepherd
Department: Corporate Services and Transformation
Reason for nomination:
John joined the council within the last 2 years working as an Estates Technician. John is a happy and extremely helpful colleague with a real can do attitude and positive outlook. What he lacks in experience and knowledge, he makes up for in his willingness to learn and listen and has a real desire and enthusiasm to carve out a career within the council. John liaises with many colleagues and service departments, dealing with queries, enquires and access requests along with members of the public both in person and remotely.
He listens careful to the needs of the public and finds a way to deliver what they need without compromising the councils position.
He is an excellent representative of the Estates Team and liked by everyone and I'm confident that he will progress and develop his career further as he now intends to enrol on a Professional Course to obtain a property related degree qualification.
Julie Peacock
Nominated by: Jo Wain
Department: Adult Social Care and Health
Reason for nomination:
I am nominating Broker Julie Peacock for the Rising Star Award in the Our Derbyshire Awards. Julie joined the Brokerage Team on a secondment in December 2021, having previously worked in Day Services. At the time Julie joined Brokerage, there was substantial and sustained pressure on social care and PVI providers due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Prior to joining Brokerage, Julie had no experience of office work and limited experience in the IT packages utilised by the team. Julie had to learn how to adjust to this and learn the job itself.
From the outset, Julie tackled these challenges with a positive mind set, working with colleagues to build her knowledge, was proactive when asking for support and advice and looked for mentors within the team.
The role entails regular engagement with external stakeholders and colleagues across the council, Julie quickly built a rapport and good working relationships with stakeholders to deliver a quality service and quality outcomes for service users. Julie quickly got to grips with this important role and continues to deliver for the benefit of vulnerable service users.
Julie is a positive role model for the service she represents and embodies the council’s values. Julie cares about the people of Derbyshire and the community she lives in which is shown in the fundraising she does for charity outside of her working day. Every year Julie has an impressive Christmas light display in her gardens and opens this up to the public. In 2022 alone, she raised over £4500 for local charities.
Julie’s desire to help make life better for the people of Derbyshire is the reason I believe she should receive this award.
Katie Newsome
Nominated by: Ellenna Bond
Department: Corporate Services and Transformation
Reason for nomination:
Katie joined the HR Business Support team 3rd January 2022 as an apprentice. Being new to the council Katie had much to learn about the organisation, the team and working in an office environment along side studying for the apprenticeship.
It was apparent from her joining that she has an excellent customer service ethic and has been a valued member of the team. Katie is customer focused and working alongside colleagues and partner agencies she is often the person who is relied for support, this includes external customers. Katie is self motivated and strives to deliver an excellent service for the team and for Derbyshire, she remains professional at all times and is always willing to take on new challenges, this has been demonstrated within the Work Experience service.
When the Business Support team who undertook this process left Katie was one of those who undertook the co-ordinating and facilitating the day to day processes, including weekly reporting to the relevant managers. We have had many comments complimenting Katie on not just her quality of work but also her bubbly personality.
I hope that Katie will progress within Derbyshire as she is a great asset to the organisation and the team.
Leeanne Gamble
Nominated by: Esther Payne and Danielle Green
Department: Adult Social Care and Health
Reason for nomination:
Leeanne joined the team as student social worker in January 2022 and now has a full time social work job with us. It was apparent from the get go that Leeanne was made for this job and continues to go from strength to strength. Leeanne is compassionate, caring, knowledgeable and always works to put services users at the centre of everything she does. The quality of her work is second to none and she is always willing to go the extra mile. Leeanne has completed her social work qualification and is now continuing her development by undertaking the assessed and supported year in employment. Leeanne achieved high marks in her degree despite her difficulties with dyslexia and a complex home situation. This clearly evidenced her resilience and her ability to balance everything. Leeanne has had a positive impact across the team and is always willing to help anyone out in anyway she can. Leeanne is committed to values of Derbyshire county council and works to provide the most independent outcome for those we support. Leeanne is an asset to not only the team but to Derbyshire as a whole. Leeanne was born to be a social worker and we cannot wait to see the incredible work she will continue to do!
Luke Oldham
Nominated by: Anonymous
Department: Adult Social Care and Health
Reason for nomination:
Luke is an inspirational colleague and a rising star. Since joining public health, he's consistently championed the importance of population mental health and sought every opportunity to improve and protect the mental health of residents and colleagues. Luke spearheaded the ‘Let’s Chat’ benches which have been a roaring success and continue to grow. The positive impact of ‘Let’s Chat’ benches is in the discussion they provoke in communities which in turn increases the likelihood that residents will seek support when they need it.
Drawing on his own experiences, Luke challenges stigma around mental health encouraging others to seek support when they need it. The colleague group he’s established is a safe space for people to share their experiences of mental health problems with others who understand and a place where they can seek informal support. Importantly, Luke creates safe boundaries, signposting colleagues when more professional support is needed.
Luke also discusses openly and honestly the gifts and challenges ADHD brings and in doing so supports other neurodiverse (ND) colleagues to do the same. The colleague ND group is a fabulous place where colleagues seek support on everything from workplace challenges to navigating the health system. The humorous side of the ND group is important too as shared humour in a safe space moves embarrassment to empathy. It lets you know you’re not alone.
Luke is an asset to public health and to the council as a whole, he has a bright future ahead.
Matthew Moore
Nominated by: Jon Townshend
Department: Adult Social Care and Health
Reason for nomination:
I nominate Matthew Moore for the ‘Rising Star’ award. Matt epitomises everything that this award stands for.
Matt joined the Public Health Commissioning team as a G9 Commissioning Support Officer in February of 2021 during arguably one of the most challenging times in public health history. Matt quickly integrated with the team and forged strong and mutually supportive working relationships with the Group Manager, Service Manager and his Commissioning Support colleagues.
Matt seeks opportunities to learn and goes above and beyond in everything he does. Matt has been pivotal in supporting the Recovery Grant projects by embedding performance reporting and creating a mutual support forum for providers to learn and work collaboratively. Matt has been a key player in setting up the #GRIDVoices co-production project and has led on developing our social media presence (evidenced by a 202% increase in our Twitter profile visits and an 85% increase in ‘tweet impressions’!)
Matt secured a promotion to G11 Commissioning Officer in November 2022. In characteristic style he has embraced this as an opportunity to further develop knowledge and skills and is now leading contract management of our Space4U service for children affected by other people’s drug and alcohol use).
Finally - in addition his substantial practical contributions Matt has made, he has also worked to develop knowledge and skills through formal training to support to the work of the team; this is evidenced by his successful completion of three formal qualifications including: two nationally acclaimed NHS Leadership qualifications (the Edward Jenner and Mary Seacole programmes for leaders in health and social care and the PRINCE2 foundation and practitioner programmes.
Matt is destined to go far; a rising star award at this time would be a fair reflection and reward for his dedication and commitment.
Orianna Kenny
Nominated by: Anonymous
Department: Place
Reason for nomination:
Orianna Kenny (Place) has many claims to this award as a really outstanding officer who always brings huge enthusiasm and positivity to everything she works on. She has been a key player in a number of challenging and critical new streams of work and has launched herself at these with enthusiasm and intelligence. She's been integral to the development of the Place Hub communications site with great innovation in how the site is presented and in the ways in which it can be used to engage Place staff. This on-going project is assured of success with Orianna's lively engagement. She has thrown herself into learning about new technology and supporting the department's work, quickly becoming an expert practitioner with great understanding of new technology as well as of the department itself.
Robbie Yearl
Nominated by: Geraldine Massey
Department: Corporate Services and Transformation
Reason for nomination:
Robbie was a Corporate Property bricklayer, buyer, and Quantity Surveyor. He jumped professions to become a Procurement Manager. As an Enterprising Council Programme early start, Property re-designed its service delivery model and in late 2020 Robbie changed profession again becoming the Capital Programme / Cost Manager; controlling and monitoring financial capital programmes of work - for the whole Authority. Quality / Impact – with indirect responsibility for a Capital Programme of work of approx. £70m Robbie entered the role not knowing the correct position of the capital expenditure.
His investigation identified a small change in process that impacted on the financial costs of projects; by working diligently to correct this and undertaking financial reconciliations, a sum of £6million in underspend was released back to service departments for much needed projects – making the best use of the resources we have. Development / Learning - Understanding that his QS Degree would be enhanced by management capabilities, he undertook a further apprenticeship and in 2022 successfully gained an MBA (Merit). All whilst raising 3 teenagers and voluntarily coaching a community football team. Commitment – a true steward of public money, he worked across functional boundaries collaborating with Senior Officers in service departments negotiating where projects were overspent - not an easy task, with an outcome of successfully balancing competing needs. In the last 2 years he has worked closely with the Property Director to on-board Concertus, working as an agent for change with peers, colleagues, and external partners to establish a joint venture - a role that was required, but not within his existing Grade 12 responsibilities. His knowledge / experience over a breadth of services / industries, capabilities and flexible attitude makes him an amazing asset to Derbyshire. His commitment and passion to be part of the programme of change to achieve the full potential of Derbyshire makes him a real Rising Star.
Ruth Tunnicliffe
Nominated by: Anonymous
Department: Childrens Services
Reason for nomination:
Ruth is a rising star, enthusiastic, strives for excellence looks how to improve practice. In 2020 Ruth was successful in securing a role as a grade 7 Team Coordinator supporting an operational service and very quickly settled into the role; valued by colleagues and managers.
In 2021 Ruth applied for a promotional role but unsuccessful, so determined to obtain skills and knowledge required, so applied and gained a grade 6 supervisory role within another area of the service. Ruth very quickly settled into this role, offering suggestions for areas of improvement, whilst gaining respect of her team as well as her managers. After around 6 months, the grade 8 business services officer job became vacant, on this occasion, Ruth was successful in obtaining promotional role. Ruth also began a level 3 leadership apprenticeship, to help develop her management skills and knowledge. During the time undertaking her grade 8 role, Ruth has looked at how the service can improve in the way they work and has developed consistent working practices across the whole of her team.
Unfortunately, Ruth’s previous grade 6 role took longer than anticipated to recruit to. Ruth was therefore learning her new role whilst trying to work with her manager and team to ensure the vacancy did not impact on the support they gave to their frontline service and also implementing improvements across the team. In August 2022, Ruth spoke with her manager about applying for a grade 10 business service manager role, to gain experience of the application and interview process at this higher level.
Ruth was successful in obtaining a secondment to a grade 10 role covering for maternity. Since starting this secondment, Ruth has quickly developed an understanding of the work, becoming increasingly confident in the role and showing high level skills.
Samantha Whawell
Nominated by: Lois Race
Department: Adult Social Care and Health
Reason for nomination:
I am nominating Sam for the Rising Star award. Sam is highly motivated and is a success story for the council’s commitment to staff development.
Having joined the council as a Business Services Apprentice Sam has gained skills, developed herself, and moved into successive roles the latest of which is to become a Service Development Officer (SDO) in the Public Health Team.
Sam is committed to her personal development, has previously participated in Springboard, and is now undertaking a Level 5 Foundation Apprenticeship Degree in Management and Leadership. She is an asset to the authority and has much yet to contribute.
In Sam’s previous role she was a Team Leader for a group of Benefit Support Workers, supporting some of Derbyshire’s most vulnerable residents to assist them claim the benefits income they were entitled to, and ensuring that their income was correct before the charging assessment for Adult Social Care services took place. Sam undertook this role with care and compassion and modelled these values for her team.
During the COVID-19 pandemic Sam worked in an extremely flexible way – taking on additional responsibilities to support the Community Response Unit in addition to her day-to-day role, and navigated the whole situation in her typically calm and ‘no fuss’ way.
She has an influence beyond her specific role and has been happy to support wider staff and service developments – for example co-developing a ‘community of practice’ approach to support the development of good practice amongst Benefit Support Workers across a number of teams within the Welfare Rights Service.
Most recently Sam has moved seamlessly into her SDO role, taking on the delivery of the Household Support Fund offer to pensioners and adult social care clients on a low income across Derbyshire and has done so with eagerness and an appetite to make a difference.
Shannon Trodden
Nominated by: Ottiley Baker
Department: Adult Social Care and Health
Reason for nomination:
I am nominating Shannon Trodden for the Rising Star award. Shannon begun working as a Call Advisor for the council in January 2017, and then Community Care Worker in the Adult Care Assessment and Triage Team in January 2018. In 2019 Shannon started the social work apprenticeship, Shannon came to my team on her second placement. After only four weeks she sat in a Peer Group Discussion meeting with colleagues from across the area and I advised her not to worry about contributing. I received a message after the meeting from a colleague saying “How does Shannon know so much already? Some days I feel she is mentoring us with all her knowledge, I am impressed”.
Shannon has just completed her apprenticeship achieving a first-class Honours and has been successful in securing a full time permanent social work post in my team, commencing 24th January 2023 and will now start her Assisted and Supported Year in Employment. Shannon is already passionate about sharing her skills and knowledge with others, she is currently supporting a Children’s Frontline student for 30 days. Shannon has spoken at a local college and university sharing her experiences and was successful in being shortlisted for student social worker of the year at the National Social Work Awards in 2022.
Shannon has had a positive impact on the life’s of so many already, from supporting an individual to live completely independently after four years of living in a care home drawing on community resources, coordinating a full care home closure working collaboratively with health colleagues, to engaging with an individual who experiences substance use difficulties and self-neglect. Feedback from one of the daughter’s states “that woman is an angel”, “coming across Shannon was the best thing that could have happened to us”.
Shannon was an excellent student social worker, always keeping the service’s voice at the heart of interventions, ensuring she was always honest and accountable for her decision making, which was reflected in her practice and case recording. Shannon is an asset to our team, and I believe she is an incredible role model for the council to demonstrate what can be achieved with the opportunities available within the council. This individual truly is a rising star and will go on to do great things, for herself, the wide community and the council.
Steph Smith
Nominated by: Andrew Eyre
Department: Adult Social Care and Health
Reason for nomination:
Nomination for Rising Star Award Steph joined the DSO team in High Peak in the Summer of 2022 having been a carer on the Dementia Team prior to that.
Steph has recently been appointed to a temporary role to cover for a DSO on secondment in High Peak North. Steph has stepped up and integrated well with the wider team and she has made many contacts both internally and externally.
Steph places the health and wellbeing of the clients at the centre everything she does. She is well liked by her peers and clients and is happy to assist in the fast paced work involved in the short term service. Steph has shown commitment and hard work and has settled in to the team well. She suggests and contributes new ways of working to streamline the service, makes wise use of resources and assists in the smooth running of the service.
Steph's work is of a high quality and makes a positive impact on the team and the clients we work with. She happily covers Duty shifts and annual / sickness leave for her colleagues as and when necessary without complaint. She asks for assistance when she feels the need and is accountable for the decisions she makes. She listens and involves the clients and other service users in their care and takes account of their preferences and needs.
Steph Joined the Dementia Team in 2020 and has shown that she has the necessary skills, aptitude and attitude to do well and she has certainly demonstrated her commitment to the council’s vision and values and has the necessary qualities to suggest she is a future talented contributor in the council.
Steve Varley
Nominated by: Anonymous
Department: Corporate Services and Transformation
Reason for nomination:
I am nominating Steve Varley for the Rising Star Award. Steve started his career with the council in 2007 as an Apprentice Joiner and has remained committed to the council throughout. In 2021 Steve temporarily helped out the MWoW FM programme (due to lack of work available within construction) undertaking office moves to enable a return to work for colleagues at County Hall following the pandemic whilst implementing new ways of working.
Whilst Steve was working with the MWoW FM team, it was quickly established that Steve had leadership skills, the ability to motivate, was respectful and always maintained exceptional attention to detail. In July 2022 with encouragement Steve applied for, interviewed and was successful in achieving a Grade 11 Senior Facilities Management Officer role on a secondment basis for 12 months. This was a complete change of profession for Steve, however he hit the ground running and has continued to improve his knowledge and skills.
Steve continually delivers high quality work, builds excellent relationship with colleagues and partners, is open minded, honest and accountable and always listens and engages. Steve has had a positive impact on programme delivery and receives positive feedback from team members, colleagues and partners regularly.
Steve is committed to the council’s vision and values and regularly advises other team members on policy adherence. He takes a lead on data protection and actively encourages others to learn and progress. Steve shows a passion for progression and I have no doubt that he will continue his career at the council as a talented contributor.
We would not have achieved the success we have without Steve as a part of this team, he is integral to the successful programme delivery.
Vicki Lobar
Nominated by: Tina Adams
Department: Corporate Services and Transformation
Reason for nomination:
Vicki became a Finance Business Partner under the recent Finance Restructure which was a progression from her pervious role. Vicki has been very successful in the transition and I find her very professional, and accommodating whenever I need issues resolving. Vicki's line manager works part time so Vicki often has to pick up additional work to cover when issues arise which is high level and outside of her role, she does this without complaint, and always with a smile on her face, she has become my go-to person in the absence of her line manager which means she is sometimes put under additional pressure. Vicki has shown a real passion and professionalism in her work and this is evident in terms of feedback from other managers in the department she supports. I expect Vicki to progress her career in Finance and feel that she really is one to watch and is a rising star in the finance community.
Koranuch Brien
Nominated by: Anonymous
Department: Childrens Services
Reason for nomination:
I would like to nominate Koranuch Brien (LSA in DACES) for the amazing work she has undertook as a Learner Support Assistant with both adults and young learners in the centres.
Koranuch started as a learner at the Hunloke Adult Education Centre and gained both her English and Maths qualifications, after which she volunteered for a year as support within classes and then proceeded to undertaking her mentoring qualification and applied for the role as relief LSA at DACES. Koranuch has grown in confidence throughout her times at DACES and continued to do courses to support her professional development. Koranuch is an inspiring individual as she is kind, considerate, approachable and flexible in her approach within supporting individuals, in particular young people.
Recently she has gained an apprenticeship in Business Admin at the Hunloke centre and is fully committed in doing the best job she can do in this new role.
Jord Booker
Nominated by: Lena Drabble
Department: Childrens Services
Reason for nomination:
Jord commenced employment in September 2019 as an apprentice.
I have had the pleasure of working with Jord since October 2020 when he gained a permanent role as a business services assistant (grade 4) supporting the Education Improvement Service.
Jord joined the team during the pandemic and just as the service was completely changing the delivery of training for teachers from in-person to virtual. The service had significant traded income targets and needed to adapt quickly. Jord supported the service with the setting up, promotion and communication of all events, leading to valuable revenue. Jord picked up everything at pace and built positive relationships all whilst working from home. This role had changed significantly from the previous postholder and Jord’s willingness to learn has enabled him to thrive and develop this role. Jord is a very helpful and polite young man who continues to grow in confidence.
He really cares about what he does and is so supportive to others. Jord has had no time off due to sickness and has commented that his mental health has never been so good. Jord is a care leaver and experienced the most difficult days of his life when he was aged 11 to 17.
Jord lived in various children’s homes both in and out of Derbyshire, he missed 1.5 years of secondary school and went to 5 different education providers within 6 months of leaving school. At 18, Jord independently moved into his own place. Jord’s determination led him to apply for the apprenticeship programme. Jord achieved his apprenticeship and has since been successful in gaining a promotion within the same team to a grade 6 role with supervisory responsibility.
Jord is a rising star and can hopefully fulfil his aspiration of becoming a residential worker in a children’s home.
Chloe Harrington
Nominated by: Richard Keeton
Department: Adult Social Care and Health
Reason for nomination:
I would like to nominate Chloe Harrington (Health Improvement Worker (HIW) who works for Live Life Better Derbyshire (LLBD) for the vision award. As the manager of the Community HIWs I have had the privilege of seeing Chloe thrive in her role in supporting the community of Bolsover as well as the wider LLBD team. Chloe is an enthusiastic, positive team member who brings a can do attitude to her work. Chloe has been involved in building relationships with partners, an example of which is Shirebrook community.
Chloe has built an excellent trusted relationships with partners and the community by regularly attending drop in sessions, being reliable, listening, taking action and being passionate about making a difference. Chloe has supported clients to access LLBD services but has also built up an excellent understanding of other factors that influence health and wellbeing and is able to support the community with wider challenges. Chloe has excelled in identifying a need in the community for supporting users of the Brook’s Storehouse (a community food store for all) , to have access to cooking resources (recipes) to build confidence when using the foods available
Chloe has used her skills and knowledge of existing challenges around food bank usage and the subsequent nutritious quality of meals cooked with these foods has informed her approach throughout and shaped the expected outcomes. With the support of the LLBD team, Chloe used existing recipe resources which were tweaked (health literacy) to match the foods provided at the food bank, so users had the opportunity to cook simple nutritious meal options. The recipes are now available in printed form at the Brook and Chloe continues to collect data on usage and identifying any gaps in cooking confidence and ability
This pilot has the potential to be rolled out to other food bank environments across Derbyshire and support a more nutritious approach to food bank usage and the quality of meals cooked for the end user whilst also using LLBD to support any other relevant health challenges the user may present with.