It's your call

The People’s Choice Award will be a new category at this year’s Celebrating Achievement event at the Borough Hall on Thursday 29 November.

It aims to recognise a member of staff or team who, in the opinion of the nominator, goes the extra mile in their job.

Celebrating Achievement has traditionally been an in-house event at which the hard work and commitment of Council employees, either individually or as teams, is recognised by their colleagues.

There have previously been eight award categories - Team of the Year, Learner of the Year, Young Employee of the Year, Outstanding Newcomer, Innovation and Enterprise, Community Engagement, Special Recognition and Inspiration – and The People’s Choice Award becomes the ninth.

Councillor Christopher Akers-Belcher, the Leader of the Council, said: “It has long been recognised that the Council’s staff are its greatest asset. Employees across-the-board work so hard and achieve some amazing results despite the challenging financial circumstances faced by the Council.

“We have decided to widen the focus of Celebrating Achievement this year to enable members of the public to get involved, and the People’s Choice Award provides them with an opportunity to nominate Council staff who they come into contact with and who they feel deserve particular recognition.

“For example, the person they nominate may have supported them to access services that have improved their quality of life, they may have assisted them in a time of need whilst demonstrating empathy and understanding, they may have taken action to sort out an issues quickly and effectively or it may simply be a case of them delivering far more than expected.”

Gill Alexander, the Council’s Chief Executive, added: “We often get letters of thanks from members of the public for the way a Council employee or service has helped them and The People’s Choice Award gives them a chance to place their gratitude on the record.”

Nominations for The People’s Choice Award should be submitted online by accessing a nomination form at www.hartlepool.gov.uk/peoples-choice-award