South Ayrshire Council News

Five outstanding Council employees have been shortlisted for South Ayrshire Council's The Outstanding People Awards following the first round of judging for the 2011 reward and recognition scheme.

More than 60 employees were nominated by members of the public and Council colleagues for outstanding performance in five nomination categories: Service Excellence, Innovation, Equalities in Action, Sustainability and Inspirational Young Employee.

Once again, the standard of the nominations was very high with many employees receiving multiple nominations. The judging panel selected the following nominees as the first to progress to the awards ceremony, which will take place in Ayr Town Hall later this year.

• Service Excellence – Clive Price, Street Cleansing Operative, nominated for his unstinting commitment to maintaining exceptionally high standards, while operating efficiently and effectively.
• Equalities in Action – Linda Hall, Depute Head Teacher, Dalmilling Primary School, who was nominated for her outstanding work in helping young pupils with low self-esteem overcome learning obstacles, to become confident young people.
• Innovation – Clare Kennedy, Manager, Girvan Learning Disability Services. Clare was nominated for developing the Girvan Opportunities Project, which offers a full programme of inclusive activities and learning to improve the lifestyles of people with learning disabilities in a rural area, providing classes that are educational and fun.
• Sustainability – Anne Smillie, John Pollock Centre Officer who has been nominated for her efforts to encourage John Pollock Centre employees and users to adopt a green approach to their work. Anne works tirelessly to get people to reduce, reuse or recycle through a series of self driven initiatives.
• Inspirational Young Employee – Kirsty Gerrish, Administration Assistant was nominated by someone who benefitted from Kirsty's support and training at work while she also managed a full workload, always remaining calm, friendly and enthusiastic with colleagues and the public.

Councillor Bill McIntosh, Leader of South Ayrshire Council said: "This is a terrific achievement for all those shortlisted and they thoroughly deserve to be in the running for The Outstanding People Awards.

"Thanks are also due to those members of the public and colleagues who made the effort to nominate them for their achievements. "

The Council's Chief Executive, David Anderson said: "The Outstanding People Awards publicly recognise people in our organisation who have gone the extra mile to deliver excellent services.

"Once again, I am very impressed with the quality of the nominations received for the first round of judging in 2011 and look forward to seeing more nominations coming in, especially from the public, via the through the online form on the Council's website."

Councillor McIntosh concluded: "We know there are many more Outstanding People out there deserving to be recognised and rewarded for their efforts.

"I would urge everyone to take the time to go online and make their nomination. Any employee or team can be nominated in one of the five categories, so please take the time to put forward your nominations."