Jo makes a difference

A library assistant, who helped a mother and her young son find their feet in the county, been named an Unsung Hero by Pembrokeshire County Council.

Haverfordwest Library Assistant Jo Jones was nominated by Fleur Lemming.

Fleur moved to Pembrokeshire when her youngest son was just eight months old and went to her library to use its facilities and find out about local baby groups.

“At the library I met an assistant, who was friendly and generous with her time, enabling me to find loads of information about baby groups in the area, including the excellent rhyme time provided by her,” she said.

“My son is now a toddler who looks forward to his weekly visits to the library. Although he isn’t the quietest of children, we are always made to feel welcome and always make the time to make sure he is able to access and enjoy the library.

“I am nominating this assistant because, as well as providing an unfailing friendly face to the general public, she is an employee who cares deeply about the needs of library users, even if they are small, snotty and only care about the coloured sticker they will get for their reading challenge.”

Jo was presented with a certificate and salver at County Hall recently by Ian Westley, Pembrokeshire County Council’s Acting Head of Paid Service.

Now in its 12th year, the Unsung Hero Award is presented to an individual council employee, who has demonstrated extraordinary commitment in the delivery of first class customer service

Members of the public as well as council employees are able to put forward nominations for the award.

Just missing on the top prize were two runners up, who were both Highly Commended. They were waste collector Steve Richardson and Peter Coleman from the Corporate Parenting Team.

Steve Richardson was nominated by a Fishguard resident, who described him as “a ray of sunshine.

“He goes over and above his duty every week on his round – a joy every Monday morning to brighten anyone’s day with his small lorry,” he said.

Peter Coleman was nominated by a colleague who said: “He puts customers’ needs at the foremost of the service he delivers and advocates on their behalf…”

Meanwhile the Council’s Springboard team, which helps people into employment, won the Unsung Hero team award.

They were nominated by their manager who said they were “the most dedicated and enthusiastic team members that I have ever worked with.”

For the second year running the Unsung Hero presentation event was  joined by the Learner of the Year Awards.

Sponsored by UNISON, the Learner of the Year – both trainee and employee awards – recognises the commitment of Futureworks Trainee and Pembrokeshire County Council employees to learning and development.

Prizes and certificates were presented by Janet Wyer of UNISON.

Winner of the Trainee category was Leanne Cole, who has  recently qualified as a Registered Child Minder.

She was nominated by her Essential Skills tutor who said she was always very positive and determined.

Runners up were Melissa Thompson and Raymond Lillycrop.

Winner of the Employee category was youth worker Tim Ramsay who achieved a first class honours degree last year.

He was nominated by his managers David Walker and Liz Griffiths who said that despite his degree he continued to seek out professional development opportunities.

Runners up were Ashley Stone of Norman Industries and Beverly Ormond from the Revenue Service.

Captions
Picture 1: Ian Westley, Acting Head of Paid Service, Pembrokeshire County Council; Jo Jones, Unsung Hero Individual  Winner; Peter Coleman, Unsung Hero Individual Highly Commended; Steve Richardson, Unsung Hero Individual  Highly Commended and Ceri Davies, Head of Human Resources, Pembrokeshire County Council.

Picture 2: Janet Wyer, UNISON; Ian Westley, Acting Head of Paid Service, Pembrokeshire County Council; Raymond Lillycrop, Learner of the Year Trainee – Highly Commended and, Ceri Davies, Head of HR, Pembrokeshire County Council. Leanne Cole and Melissa Thompson were not present.