Jim recognises East Ren Public Servants

Last Saturday at the Duff Memorial Hall in Busby nearly 150 people turned out to recognise some of East Renfrewshire's most dedicated public servants.
 
East Ren MP Jim Murphy and MSP Ken Macintosh had organised the first ever East Renfrewshire Public Servant of the Yeay Awards to recognise the hard work of the area's public sector workers.  There was a range of awards for teachers, Council workers, healthcare professionals and other public servants. 
 
Local MP Jim Murphy said:
 
"Our area's public servants do a fantastic job, often with little thanks.  I wanted to publicly celebrate their great work and give the community a chance to say a big 'thank you.'  I'm delighted that the Awards were a great success and that so many people turned out to show their appreciation for what our public servants do.
 
"From teachers to police officers, to lollipop men and women, they work away in the background helping to make our area the fantastic place to stay that it is. I'm glad that this event shone the spotlght on their service"
  
Ken Macintosh MSP said:
 
"Many people work in the public sector because they want to do a job that allows them to give something back to the community, so hearing first hand how much people appreciate the great work of our dedicated public servants was very moving. 
 
"The commitment and dedication whch is evident in many of our public servants is so often taken for granted, it's great that these Awards allowed us to take a moment to publicly recognise and applaud their work." 
 
One of the winners Constable Gordon Sweeney, a high school campus cop, said:
 
"It was a tremendous honour to be nominated, nevermind to have acually won the award.  It's really nice to know that the community appreciates the job that you do."  
 
After the event's tremendous success, the local politicians plan to hold a similar awards ceremony annually.

Jim and Ken would also like to give a special thank you to Cafe Roma in Clarkston, which very generously donated a great deal of food and refreshments to the Awards.  You can visit Cafe Roma's website at www.cafe-roma-clarkston.co.uk/

Here is a full list of winners and nominees: 

Teacher of the Year Category – Nursery
Joint Winners:
Karen Smith, Senior Child Development Officer, and Moira Beveridge, Administration Assistant, both at Glenwood Nursery. 

Teacher of the Year Category – Primary
Nominees:
- Mr Jim Duffy, Head teacher at St Cadocs
- Mrs Denise Donnelly, Acting Depute Headteacher at St Johns
- Christine Armour, teacher at Carolside Primary.
- Mr Steven West, music teacher at Netherlee Primary

Winner:
- Christine Armour, teacher at Carolside Primary. 

Teacher of the Year Category – Secondary
Nominees:
- Marie Wallace, Head teacher of Isobel Mair
- Mrs Kirsty Smith, mathematics teacher, St Ninians
- Austin Keogh, Principal Teacher of Support for Learning, Eastwood High
- Helen Primrose, Geography and Personal Development teacher, Woodfarm High
- Mrs Ann Stewart, Headteacher, Woodfarm High
- Mrs Linda Fenn, music teacher 

Winner:
- Mrs Kirsty Smith, mathematics teacher at St Ninians. 

Teacher of the Year Category – Special Awards on retirement
Joint Winners:
- Elizabeth Miller, Principal Teacher of Support for Learning at St. Ninian’s
- Tony McKinney, Depute Head teacher at St Luke’s. 

Heath Worker of the Year
Nominees:
- Gill Mackie, Warden at The Forge, Giffnock
- Dr Julia Gray, Consultant Psychiatrist, Eastwood Medical Centre, Clarkston
- Rosalina Rowan, Self-Directed Support and ILF Contact Officer for CHCP

Winner:
- Gill Mackie, Warden at The Forge, Giffnock 

Council Worker of the Year
Nominees:
- Receptionists at Eastwood Offices - 2/3 people
- John Mullen, Caretaker at Glen Halls, Neilston
- Linda Kirkwood, assistant registrar at Eastwood offices

Winner:
- John Mullen, Caretaker at Glen Halls, Neilston

Other Public Service Award
Nominees:
- Mr Martin McNulty, St John's Lollipop man
- Mr Harry McGonnigle, Barrhead High Lollipop man
- Liz McCalden, Giffnock Primary Lollipop lady
- Nancy Chant, Postmistress of Crookfur Post Office
- Constable Gordon Sweeney – Campus officer for St Lukes, Barrhead,
- Inspector Dawn MacEachern, Strathclyde Police

Winner:
- Constable Gordon Sweeney, Campus Officer at St Lukes 

Jim also interviewed some of the Awards winners for www.JimMurphyMP.com, see below for the videos: