The people and teams of Cambridgeshire County Council have been recognised for their outstanding achievements in helping to deliver the Council’s vision of creating a greener, fairer, and more caring Cambridgeshire, during an evening of celebration.
Following the success of last year’s inaugural Employee Spotlight Awards, the shortlisted finalists, award sponsors and invited guests attended The Cambridge Belfry in Cambourne last night (Tuesday 4 March) for the awards ceremony.
The 267 nominations were received from across all parts of the council, from which the judging panels produced a shortlist of 34 individuals and teams.
Team of the Year award went to Cambridgeshire Virtual School. A team of teachers and education professionals that supports and improves outcomes for children in Cambridgeshire who have (or have had) a social worker; the Virtual School also performs a crucial role in supporting the safeguarding of children and young people within the county’s education system.
The award recognised the team’s unwavering commitment to children and young people in care, to learn, aspire, thrive, and achieve, as well their support for colleagues, and their dedication to achieving excellence in collaboration with other teams.
Spotlight Award winners pose with their awards – image credit to Cambridgeshire County Council.Other successes acknowledged at the event included: projects to help children reconnect with nature and encourage biodiversity; commitment to advancing equality, diversity, and inclusion across the county council; and supporting the Gypsy, Roma, and Traveller communities to access opportunities which may not otherwise be available to them.
The winners of the 11 award categories were:
- Team of the Year – Winner: Cambridgeshire Virtual School Team.
- Colleague of the Year – Winner: Fran Marshall, Principal Social Worker.
- Compassionate Leader of the Year – Winner: Allison Box, Holiday Activities and Food (HAF) Programme Co-ordinator.
- Greener Award – Winner: Cambridge City Child and Family Centre.
- Fairer Award – Winner: Sean Figura, Technology Enabled Care (TECS) Leader and Jaye McLaughlin, Insight Analyst.
- More Caring Award – Winner: Marie Ludlam, Changing Futures Services Manager.
- Inclusion and Belonging Award – Winner: Thabang Thacker, Sean Figura, Technology Enabled Care (TECS) Leader and Jaye McLaughlin, Insight Analyst.
- Collaborative Award – Winner: Rose Wilson, Project Development Officer.
- Accountable Award – Winner: March Library Team.
- Respectful Award – Winner: Kevin Delaney, Senior Digital Officer.
- Excellence Award – Winner: Toni Scrivener, Support Worker, Huntingdon Community Centre Day Service.
Fran Marshall, Principal Social Worker for Adult Social Care at the Council, said: “I’m absolutely delighted to have won the Colleague of the Year award and to have received such wonderful feedback from the colleagues who nominated me.
“It means so much to be recognised in this way by my team; I couldn’t have achieved this without their support, and I am very proud to be part of such an incredible team.”
Cllr Lucy Nethsingha, the Leader of Cambridgeshire County Council, said: “It’s been wonderful to celebrate the contributions from all these individuals and teams.
“It’s testament to the commitment of the county council’s workforce that even more nominations were received this year; it was a tough decision for the judges to select the winners in each category due to quality of all the nominees.
“Our people are critical to the work the county council does for residents, and their dedication and energy is helping to create a greener, fairer and more caring Cambridgeshire, every day.”
Dr Stephen Moir, Chief Executive of the County Council, who hosted the awards ceremony, said: “Congratulations to everyone who was nominated and especially to those who won.
“I’m very proud of my colleagues who demonstrate the best of the county council’s work. My heartfelt thanks go out to our sponsors, without whom the event could not have happened.
“I’d also like to commend the work of our communications and HR teams for their care in planning, organising, and delivering the awards this year. Such a great celebration is only possible when enabled by the work of people behind the scenes, not just those in the spotlight.”
The awards are entirely funded by sponsors.
“Their support ensures we can celebrate these inspiring achievements,” said a council spokesperson.
This year’s headline sponsors were Alternative Provision by Ackerman Pierce and AWTG. Amillan Ltd and Cirrus sponsored the awards’ hospitality and Keystone Marketing sponsored the event styling.
Individual category sponsors: Enterprise Mobility, CPL One, Ackerman Pierce, ECON, Cherry Hinton Care Home, GMB Union, Bridgit Care, AWTG and Opus People Solutions.
