Council Staff Rewarded For ‘Hard Work & Dedication’ at Annual Ceremony

Hardworking members of staff at Wrexham Council have been praised for their efforts at the annual ‘WOW Awards’, held in a ceremony at the Guildhall.

Council employees were awarded for their efforts in 2015/16 – with winners including a dedicated Welsh learner, a long-serving teaching assistant and a Young Apprentice.

Taking the WOW Award for Role Model was Vanda Wright, a teaching assistant who has worked at the Victoria Infants School in Wrexham for 40 years.

Mrs Wright was nominated by Deborah Eccles, Headteacher at Victoria CP, who described her as a “one in a million and a favourite of pupils, parents and staff alike” and an “inspirational woman”.

In her nomination, Mrs Eccles wrote: “Mrs Wright is an inspiration in the classroom, teaching with flair and treating children with compassion and dignity. Vanda is fair and upholds all the values we have in school. She creates exciting learning areas, indoors and out, and her classroom displays are of the highest standard.”

Also earning an award was Amanda Davies, Marketing and Promotions Manager for the Council and the Tour of Britain Team, who won the new People’s Choice Award, decided by a public vote, for their work in ensuring the prestigious Tour of Britain stage finish in Wrexham was a success.

And receiving awards in the Customer Focus category were Adam Morris, of Corporate Training, and Neil Turner of Cambrian Cleaning Services (CCS based at the Wrexham Bus Station.  Neil was nominated after numerous members of the public contacted the council to say how helpful he is and how thankful they were for his support.

Cllr Mark Pritchard, Leader of the Council, said: “It’s very humbling to be able to present the WOW Awards.

“Times are not easy for councils, but I’m delighted to see that there are those employees who continue to try their hardest and go above and beyond to deliver an excellent service for customers and citizens.”

Dr Helen Paterson, Chief Executive of Wrexham Council, added: “I want to thank all those who received WOW awards for their incredible hard work and dedication. We as a council can’t thank them enough, and they deserve to have their efforts recognised.

“It’s through our employees that we succeed, and each and every one of our award winners is setting the very highest standard.”

A fill list of this year’s winners can be found below:

Welsh Learner of the Year – Suzanne Price
ILM Learner of the Year – Tanya Jones; Lee Roberts
Young Apprentice – Sarah Forster
Customer focus – Adam Morris
Partnership – Ceri Martin; The Corporate Health Challenge Team (Team Award)
Excellence – Julian Ayres; The Consultation Team (Team Award)
Role Model – Margaret Clark; Vanda Wright
Those receiving highly commended awards were:

Customer Focus – Roger Davies; The HR Service Centre and Payroll Team (Team Award)
Partnership – The North Wales Adoption Service (Team Award)
Excellence – The Housing Team (Team Award); the Arts Team (Team Award)
Role Model – Sue Robins; Alison Jarvis; Peter Roberts