The voting is now open for our People’s Choice Award which will be announced at our annual Time to Shine Awards. This award will recognise individuals who have been recognised by their peers as "Shining Stars" who have gone the extra mile.
The best nominations have been shortlisted and now we need your help to decide our winner. Take a look at our final six nominees below and decide your winner.
You have until midnight 8 October to cast your vote.
Bec is a support worker in our Paediatric Learning Disability Service and has clocked up an impressive 26 years with the Trust, starting her NHS career back in August 1997.
Her colleagues describe her as always taking the time out of her day to go the extra mile, helping the service, team and children we care for, and always doing so with a huge smile on her face!
Bec has trained in intensive interaction this year, something which was completely new to her and her role. Intensive interaction is a strategy used to communicate with people with learning disabilities who find it difficult to communicate in traditional ways.
It works by the clinician mimicking the service user’s communication style, such as rocking and shouting, to create rapport and build trust. Taking it in her stride, Bec enrolled on the course as she was keen to help and as a result managed to support a young boy with complex needs and his family. This young person came on leaps and bounds with Bec's input, his speech improved massively and therefore his ability to communicate with the world around him.
Bec additionally volunteered to help out during the pandemic with vaccination clinics, which is a further example of her hard work and dedication to the service. Her fun demeanour and outlook to work really lifts staff morale in the team and her colleagues believe she is the glue that holds the team together.
On hearing about her nomination, Bec said:
“I was very surprised to be nominated. I have seen many changes in the service over the years. I have always rose to the challenge of my ever changing role within the team as I know life has to run with the times and new technology to improve our care for our clients.
One thing that has always kept me going is the pride I have for my work. I am proud to be working for the NHS, to be part of this fabulous Paediatric Learning Disability team from supporting the peer support workers to making a difference to people’s lives who access support from our service. I have seen the difference this support can make for others.
It costs nothing to put a smile on your face and make everyone feel welcome to our Paediatric Learning Disability family.”
Earlier this year, Donna along with her supervisor Sandra Haddock, conducted a home visit for a service user, when he failed to open the door, Donna’s intuition and experience knew something wasn’t quite right.
Donna spoke with neighbours and Sandra contacted the local hospital and learnt he had been discharged only days earlier, so made the decision to inform the police and housing association to gain entry to the property. After the locksmith arrived they found the service user had fallen and had been laying on his bedroom floor for over two days and was extremely unwell.
The gentleman hadn’t been able to move himself so Donna’s first priority after informing the ambulance service was to address the potential injuries, take his observations and make the gentleman as comfortable as possible.
Sandra comments:
“Donna took complete control of the situation, she truly went above and beyond in addressing the gentleman's personal needs, making every effort to uphold his dignity and wellbeing. She acted professionally throughout using all her expertise to provide the best possible care, undertaking medical assessments and reassuring the service user. The ambulance had originally given a response time of over 3 hours, but after Donna’s assessment the call was upgraded as Donna’s knowledge indicated he could have been suffering with sepsis and he had a range of pressure sores and wounds which needed urgent treatment.”
Kate Morgans, team leader added:
“This is just typical Donna, nothing is ever too much trouble for Donna and she does everything with a smile and her can do attitude. After the incident Donna visited the gentleman in her own time and he has expressed his gratitude in saving his life as he knows if he hadn’t been found that day the outcome could have been very different.”
Donna has worked for the NHS for 15 years in a range of roles and always brings her shining personality to every team she works in. Her colleagues described her as a ray of sunshine, who often takes the lead on social events, themed days, special occasions and team bonding.
When Donna was told of her nomination she said:
“I’m shocked to be nominated, as I just did what came naturally to me on the day and I would do it again without hesitation for anybody who needs help. I did get thank you emails from the police and paramedics at the time which was a lovely surprise but this is an even bigger surprise."
Donna modestly added:
“On the day we all worked as a team, we communicated with each other and made sure we worked collaboratively with the different services and authorities to get the gentleman the help he needed.”
Shaesta’s journey to becoming a High Intensity CBT Therapist started in 2020 following the heart breaking passing of her own father. Experiencing her own grief, Shaesta felt first hand some of the health inequalities facing families and individuals from Black, Asian and ethnic minorities (BAME) and wanted to make a positive change.
Since qualifying Shaesta has been working across Burnley and Pendle for our Talking Therapies Service for anxiety and depression. Alongside her everyday role as a CBT Therapist, meeting with up to five clients a day and being a busy mum of four boys, Shaesta has passionately been championing outreach work in the local ethnic minority communities.
Shaesta’s supervisor Emma Wood nominated her for this award and commented:
“Shaesta has such an infectious energy and I don’t think she realises what a positive impact she is having on our service users, the local communities and our team. She is a breath of fresh air and I feel so lucky to have her and her make it happen attitude in my team.
Her work is helping to break down barriers within communities and we are already seeing the important impact Shaesta is having through our services. Everyone who meets Shaesta feels motivated and inspired by her and I want her to know how appreciated she is, just by me but from everyone she helps.”
Her role at the trust sees Shaesta taking the lead on outreach work to reach BAME communities, historic figures from the trust show that only 11.5% of self-referrals were made to the Talking Therapies service from B.A.M.E communities.
As a result of her dedicated hard work she has reached over 60 organisations and more than 180 people, all who wouldn’t have previously had any involvement with the service. Shaesta zealously challenges the old narrative of ‘hard to reach communities’ as she knows ‘diverse communities thrive from diverse approaches’, the communities are out there and people are saying they need mental health support.
After finding out she was nominated Shaesta said:
“I’m truly humbled to be nominated for this award, there is a sadness also as it was my own personal grief for my dad that started me on this journey but I’m glad that I have been able to focus some of my grief on helping others. I feel supported by the Trust and my whole team so I’m really excited for the future and to see how far reaching our clinical work can progress. I’m driven by the vision of making psychotherapies accessible for everyone regardless of their circumstances.”
You may recognise Martin from being the cover star of the latest edition of Shine magazine.
A challenging and traumatic upbringing had a detrimental effect on Martin Sullivan’s mental health, leading him on a road to serious criminal violence and spending many years moving from one prison to another, before being given the support and medication he needed.
Now a mental health therapist with LSCft, Martin uses his lived experience in enriching other's learning as well as his own recovery journey.
He is keenly motivated, thoughtful and reflective in how he approaches his work roles in occupational therapy and also his peer mentor post in the Forensic Community Mental Health Team.
At his heart he is wholly person-centred and uses his skills compassionately with service users. He has stood in their shoes before and knows what they are experiencing and he hopes that he can be a shining example that recovery is achievable.
Martin has been pivotal in setting up the LGBTQ service user led Alphabet Group as well as being the BAME ambassador within Specialist services. He regularly gives talks/presentations to staff and students within the Trust - as well as OT students at UCLan and local schools - about his experiences and what has been the turning points for himself from being a service user to now a staff member.
Martin has great people skills - he is approachable, humorous and has a brilliant way of engaging all. He is kind, and respectful and is always looking at different ways of working to engage our service users. His determination and approach is something we can all learn from and more importantly he provides hope and motivation to our service users.
On hearing about his nomination, Martin said:
“I'm so lucky and honoured, I feel like a winner just for being nominated. I'm so happy my hard work has been recognised and I'll continue to help people just like others helped me.”
As a peer support worker with lived experience of having a learning disability, Claire is no stranger to overcoming barriers in her personal and professional life, but she doesn’t let it hold her back. Claire uses it as her super power to help others.
You only have to speak to Claire to understand why she has been nominated for the People’s Choice Award with her infectious personality, huge smile and a passion for making a difference.
Claire said:
“I’m extremely proud to work for the NHS, it’s something I always wanted to do and it makes me feel good.”
Since joining the team two years ago, Claire has gone from strength to strength. She started with little IT skills and is now able to advise others in such areas, including community support worker
Rebecca, who can’t imagine life without her. They have a special relationship and love working alongside one another.
Claire is also passionate about the use of Makaton, which is simple and easy way of communicating using signs, symbols and speech, to assist people with learning disabilities. Each week, Claire makes a Makaton ‘sign of the week’, which is then shared with colleagues, she also supports the delivery of Makaton training.
Claire is an advocate for mental wellbeing and has used her lived experience to help develop a session for people with a learning disability on how to keep well. But she is eager to ensure the wellbeing of her colleagues too, baking cakes and arranging events to support others such as Macmillan coffee mornings.
Claire’s colleagues, are full of praise and admiration for her, she is an invaluable member of the team who regularly “goes above and beyond to help anybody.”
On finding out about her nomination, Claire and Rebecca cried happy tears. Claire was able to share the news with her beloved mum, who sadly suffers with dementia, but said she was very proud. Her partner Rob is also very happy.
The person who nominated Claire, Dr Melanie Hugill, said:
“Knowing how hard life has been for Claire in the past, it fills me with pride and wonder that she has overcome so much to be in the position she is in today. She has battled many personal difficulties and applied for the job to try and help people like herself receive the service they need.
She is the person who can show you that there are opportunities out there and life is what you make of it.”
Heather has worked in child and adolescent services at LSCft for ten years, starting as a support worker before undertaking a degree in mental health nursing. Heather has spent time working in both inpatient settings and out in the community.
Eighteen months ago Heather stepped in to a leadership position within Fylde and Wyre Children and Young People’s Mental Health Services and it’s safe to say that even in this sort time Heather has made a tremendous impact.
Under her leadership the team have created a new service model, improved supervision structures, implemented a number of groups and courses for service users and reduced waiting times.
But it doesn’t stop there! Heather’s vision has always been to provide excellent care of the highest quality for the children and young people who access the service. Heather’s commitment to this vision is clear in her proposal of an innovative Forest School in Fylde and Wyre to provide treatment and support for children and young people who suffer with mental health difficulties. This is an evidence based intervention and impressively, the service will be only the second in the UK to provide this option.
The Forest School will allow young people to spend time in the outdoors, improving their mental health and emotional development through play, cooking, den-making, creative activities and more. This non-traditional approach to care will provide a fun and supportive environment which allows those attending freedoms which cannot be achieved indoors.
On finding out she had been nominated, Heather told us:
“I am overwhelmed. I feel very humbled to have been nominated for this award. I am very thankful to have such an amazing team who are determined and committed to their job roles. Thank you so much!"
Beth Devlin who nominated Heather said:
“Heather goes above and beyond for our team. She is a kind compassionate manager who puts patients and staff's best interests at the heart of all she does, always offering a space for staff to feel supported.
Recently I have spoken about my desire to progress and Heather has supported me through this process and I am now moving on to additional study alongside my current job role. I am not the first person to be progressing due to Heathers faith in her staff. Heather sets a great example to our team to strive and follow in her footsteps.”
