Durham Durham County Council’s employee magazine

Life savers

Great Staff GreatStuff finalistsnamed.see page 3

Follow JamesMcKenzie’s journeyin resolving a fly-tipping report.see page 6

Team worksaves aswimmer.see page 5

Novem

ber 2014

Clearing it up

Star spotting

You can now register for ebilling, providing you with theopportunity to receive yourcouncil tax bill, along with all therelevant supporting information,electronically.

As soon as your bill is available youare sent an email with your billattached.

The benefits of ebilling include:• It’s fast, secure and free• Saves paper, and helps reduceprinting and postage costs

• You can view, download and

print your bill 24/7 – in the sameplace.

Simply visit:www.durham.gov.uk/ebilling

By registering for ebilling, you areagreeing to have your council tax billdelivered electronically, until you tellus otherwise.

If you need help registering, or youhave a problem with accessing thesystem, please contact the revenueand benefits support team by email:rbsupport@durham.gov.uk

2

Park for freeafter three

George Garlick,Chief Executive

Cover: James McKenzie, customer servicesassistant, pictured in early Octoberduring Customer Services Week.Read about his journey in resolving afly-tipping incident. See page 6.

Your magazine…your news Do you have a story you would like to see included in the next edition of Buzz?

Just let us know by contacting: buzz@durham.gov.uk, call 03000 268 067 or write toBuzz, Internal Communications, Durham County Council, County Hall, Durham, DH1 5UF.

welcome

In this exceptionally good butchallenging year, we have seenmany plaudits come our way,and in this issue, we featureseveral external awards that addfurther weight to us being theLGC’s Council of the Year 2014.

Now in its third year, our GreatStaff Great Stuff awards celebratethe exceptional teams andindividuals that work here, and,and recognise their commitmentand hard work throughout theyear.

Congratulations to everyone, whowas nominated, and I am lookingforward to seeing the finalists (seepage 3) at our annual event inDecember.

These achievements areespecially noteworthy as we areoperating in an environment offinancial austerity.

While achieving savings, we aimto maintain our frontline services,and to mark our commitment, werecently celebrated CustomerService Week with severalactivities across many of ourservices, including launches ofour new website, and a refreshedCustomer First Strategy.

Thank you for your sustainedeffort and ‘can do’ attitude.

Council tax ebilling – sign up today

Christmas is coming early forresidents and businesses in thecounty with free parking after3pm at all council car parksthroughout December.

To help support high streetbusinesses and make affordingChristmas that little bit easier, we'llbe making parking 'free after three'across the county. The offer willapply to all council-owned car parksin the county as well as all on-streetparking in Durham City.

The nationally recognised day aimsto help small businesses byencouraging people to 'think big,shop small' and support localtraders.

Festive and New Year’sPay dates…The December pay date will beFriday, 19 December 2014, andthe January pay date will be lastworking day as normal (Friday, 30January 2015) – a six week gap.

Calling allbookworms!

The council’s library service nowoffers an extensive choice of e-books that are free to downloadon to PCs, tablets or e-readers.

More than 1,000 titles covering awide range of genres are availableto anyone with a valid DCC librarycard and an internet connection. Formore information or to sign up, visitwww.durham.gov.uk/libraries

awards

3

The shortlist for the 2014 Great Staff, Great Stuff annual awardshas been announced.

This year, 152 nominations were received from across thecouncil.

A panel of judges, made up of representatives from each of theservice groupings, helped in the difficult task of selecting thefinal shortlist.

Chief executive George Garlick said: “For the third year running there has been an excellent response to the awards, with people throughout the council nominating individuals and teams they believe should be recognised for their hard work.

“Due to such strong entries it has been really difficult for the panel to select the finalists for each category.”

ExcellentService

WorkingTogether

Innovation Apprentice ofthe Year

Team of the Year

Employee ofthe Year

Housing StockTransfer SpeechLanguage andCommunicationNeeds (SarahCaden and SusanStewart) Pest TreatmentTeam Prison LibraryTeam School SupportTeam, Cateringand Cleaning

NeighbourhoodProtection TeamLumiere Safety &Metrology Team,Illicit tobacco Social Care Direct & OccupationalTherapyWelfare response

Children Servicessingleassessment Durham CountyRecord Office,Durham at War Health and Safety,Direct Services Civica ICON RollOut ProjectOP/PDSIManagementTeam

Beth Donkin,BusinessAdministrationApprenticeLiam Goodfellow,BusinessAdministrationApprenticeDean Lowes,ApprenticeTechnician Yr 3 Leah Maddison,AdministrationAssistantEmily Stewart,BusinessAdministrationApprentice

Britain in Bloom CommunityBuildings TeamDigital Durham Physical ActivityDevelopmentTeamProgression andLearning and OnePoint Service

Martin Briscoe,Area Supervisor(Clean & Green)John Chapman,Health & SafetyTeam LeaderScott Creighton,MaintenanceOfficer Allyson Rose,CommunityDevelopment/Project OfficerGeraldine Waugh,StrategicManager OD/PDSI

Members of staffrecognised for their workthis month include:

l Dominique Meissner,service planningsupport officer

l Britain in Bloom Groupl Internet Project – WebTeam

For further information onGreat Staff, Great Stuffvisit the intranet.

Starspotting…

StaffAw

ard

srecognising galactic contributions

The winners will be announced at the awards ceremony on Monday, 1 December at County Hall.

Indoor curling swept the floor at a recent open day tomark a new era for a village community centre aftercompletion of an extensive refurbishment.

The activity was one of a number organised for QuarringtonHill residents by the community association which hastaken over responsibility for the day-to-day running of thebuilding from the council.

The centre has been transformed into a modern facility andfocal point for the local community with new lights, carpets,blinds, insulation, radiator covers, storage shed, front doorand meeting room.

Some £57,000 funding has been accessed through helpfrom the East Durham Rural Corridor Area ActionPartnership including £46,000 from Lafarge-Tarmacthrough the landfill community fund.

The council formally handed over the Quarrington Hillcentre to the community association in April after giving thenew committee support and training to draw up a businessplan, which also involved Durham Community Action andDurham University.

…and now for some kurling news

Beverley Thomas, planning support officer in Spennymoor,along with fellow Wear Valley Reds team mates, recentlywon the consolation plate after competing in the Club Teamand British Open Kurling competition.

Kurlers practice at Newton Aycliffe Leisure Centre, amongthem, the Wear Valley Blues and Wear Valley Reds team.

Closely related to curling is kurling, a game played bypushing stones (comprising of bearings) along the groundtowards a target with the idea being to get as many of yourstones closer to the centre of the target than youropponent’s stones.

Curling and Kurling news

Durham City and Sedgefield were both awarded a goldin this year’s competition.

Durham represented Northumbria in the large towncategory, while Sedgefield represented the small townsection.

The Durham City bid was supported by the Durham inBloom group, while Sedgefield’s campaign was led bySedgefield Town Council and Sedgefield in Bloom and supported by the county council.

Judges were full of praise for both Durham andSedgefield’s entries, hailing the teamwork and spiritinvolved, and commenting on how both campaigns wereclose to coming out on top in their respective categories.

More than 1,000 volunteers dedicated nearly 4,000 hoursto making Durham City look ‘altogether greener’ as part ofthe Durham in Bloom group.

For further information visit: www.durham.gov.uk/inbloom

Recent policy updates

Gold for County Durhamin Britain in Bloom

The Personal Use of Social Media Policy was recentlyupdated, and provides clear guidelines for employees whoaccess social media for their personal use, especially incommunications which relate to the council, or to you, asan employee. In addition, our Employee Code of Conduct,which sets out the ‘musts’ and ‘must nots’ in theworkplace, was also updated.

lThe Personal Use of Social MedialCode of Conduct(If you don’t have access to the intranet, please ask yourmanager or supervisor to provide you with a printed copy.)

4

news

Oliver Sherratt with Pauline Walker at the Britain in Bloom Awards

*

Lifeguards at Freeman’s Quay Leisure Centre recently saved the life ofone of their swimmers.

When regular customer Michael Howard suddenly stopped swimming,lifeguards Chloe Heslop and Jess Shallow raised the alarm, and using theirtraining quickly removed him from the pool. Initial checks showed Michaelhad stopped breathing and duty lifeguard Andrew Wright started toresuscitate him.

The support team, Paul Arkle and Stephen Shotten arrived with a defibrillatorand successfully delivered a shock which restarted Michael’s heart and he began breathing again. Team member Abigail Hauxwell called theambulance and Operations Manager Shaun McGuiness co-ordinated with the ambulance as staff continued to monitor Michael until the crew arrived.

Michael was first taken to the University Hospital of Durham and latertransferred to the specialist heart unit at the James Cook Hospital.

Michael, who is now home and recovering well, said: "I cannot thank the team at Freeman's Quay enough, without their quick thinking and excellentlifesaving skills I would not be here today.

“Every surgeon and consultant I have seen since the incident has saidwithout them I would not have made it."

Kay Smith, centre manager at Freeman’s Quay Leisure Centre, said: “Afterthe incident, Claire Howard, Michael’s wife came into the centre to thank all the team in person. She brought in a beautiful thank you card toacknowledging the team’s amazing efforts.”

news

5

We want to know how you use mobile phones, so we can design toolsand services that will help you do your work better. At the same time, itcan also help us to better manage our resources.

This survey will only take about 10 minutes to complete. This is youropportunity to help shape our future approach to mobile phones in theworkplace. Your feedback is appreciated. Complete the survey now byfollowing the link: www.surveymonkey.com/s/TVKZYMD

Lifeguards true to their name

The stars of the North East’sbooming IT and technology sectortook centre stage recently at the BTDynamites 14 awards.

Among the winners was the council’sDigital Durham fibre broadbandprogramme; snapping up thecollaboration award for its partnershipworking with BT, Openreach and thenine other local authorities involved.

Phil Jackman, head of ICT services,said: “These awards celebrate thebrightest and best of the region’s ITand technology sector. Givingrecognition for the efforts of DigitalDurham and its support in improvingthe availability of fast, fibre broadbandto the region has to be the icing onthe cake.”

Find out more about Digital Durham atwww.digitaldurham.org

Digital Durhamblasts awaycompetition atDynamite awards

Do you have a council mobile phone?

Some of our local heroes: Andrew Wright, Chloe Heslop,Abigail Hauxwell, Paul Arkle and Stephen Shotten

Phil Jackman, flanked by Lindsey Bouillon (Swift-page) and Charlie Hoult, chairman of Dynamo.

6

staff

James’ Journey...

Illuminating ICT Awareness Day

9.15am:The eighth call of the day came through at 9.15am. It was from a customer inBearpark who wanted to advise us thatshe had witnessed a fly-tipping incident.

I spoke to the Clean and Green back-office team, who informed me that theincident should be passed to Educationand Enforcement to investigate.

12.30pm:Once the job is given to awarden, they then go to thelocation to find any clues toidentify the person orpersons who have dumpedthe items.

Once the wardens haveclosed the investigationthey will then arrange withthe Clean and Green teamto pick up the items (within24 hours), taking it to thewaste transfer station atCoxhoe to be disposed of.

11.30am:We then went to the Morrison Bustyoffice where they handle all initial jobsfor the Education and EnforcementTeam and pass them to theneighbourhood warden coordinators,based at Hackworth depot, toallocate. All jobs to coordinators aresent out three times a day (8.30am,12.30pm and 3.30pm)

10.00am:Our next port of call was to go and find the exactlocation of the fly tip in Bearpark, which wastricky to say the least. It made us realise thefrustrations which neighbourhood wardens mustface when trying to locate such sites. Eventually,we then found the correct location.

James said: “This is just asnapshot of one call taken on oneday. It was really interesting tofind out about the trail of peoplewho are involved in this sort ofenquiry from beginning to end.”

As part of Customer Services Week, an ICT Awareness Daywas hosted at County Hall, giving customers the chance to seehow ICT can benefit their day to day business. Similar eventsare being planned at other locations so look out for futureannouncements.

Eight stands covered various topics, including new technologyat work, a demonstration of a remote control drone takingaerial footage, and how Design and Print can support yourarea of work.

On Wednesday, 8 October, and as part of Customer Services Week, James McKenzie, customerservices assistant, took the eighth call on the day, and physically followed it to its conclusion…

Neighbourhood wardens Colin Mason and Neil Morton

Kelsey BatesEducation Enforcement

7

news

As part of this week, we invited employees to get intouch with pictures of themselves, and/or their placesof work, telling us how it relates to our customers. TheResearch and Equalities team judged the winning entryto be that of Geoff Knight…

“The Civic Pride team supports both communities and ourenvironment. From community project work to improvingwhere we live to delivering sessions on the environmentand environmental crime, we offer the opportunity for ourcustomers to take ownership of where they live and havepride in their neighbourhoods.”

Just do it!Join more than 4,000 employees who’ve completed ourmandatory Data Protection refresher course.

“It is important that we all ‘top up’ ourknowledge on the important areas of theData Protection Act that are relevant tothe work of the council – this refreshercourse provides a good level ofawareness and I found it useful andworthwhile.”Peter Appleton, head of planning andservice strategy, CAS

Employees with ICT access at work have been invited tocomplete a short interactive elearning course titled ‘AnOverview of the Data Protection Act 1998’. The courseconsists of eight short modules which takes around 45minutes to complete.

”Dealing with data protection advice on a regular basis I wondered if I wouldbenefit from the online course. It turnedout to be the clearest and most practicalexplanation of data protectionrequirements I had encountered. Onseveral occasions the refresher traininghas stopped me disclosing personalinformation in documents I would

previously have been tempted to release.”David Taylor, deputy monitoring officer, Legal Services

The council’s elearning courses can be accessed at:https://durham.learningnexus.co.ukAll employees with a council email address can log onto thesystem as follows:• Username – this is your six digit payroll number• Password – Durham123!(you will be asked to change this password when you firstlog in).

Customer Services Week 2014 – a winner!

Puttingourcustomersfirst

New agency supplier

October saw the launch of our Customer First Strategy,following public consultation and input by more than200 employees.

It sets out how we deliver customer service that providesvalue for money, flexibility and choice, while putting ourcustomers at the heart of everything we do. See theCustomer First Strategy at www.durham.gov.uk/customerfirst

Our corporatemanagement teamrecently agreed a changein the council’s neutralvendor for the supply ofagency and temporaryworkers from this month.

De Poel Managed ServicesLimited has been appointedas the council’s new vendorfor a two year period. Afurther two year extension isalso permitted.

HR and Procurement arecurrently working with thenew supplier to ensure a

smooth transition to the newsystem. Training, which willshortly be rolled out by dePoel representatives, isplanned for all existinghiring managers, timesheetapprovers and budgetapprovers. If you currentlycarry out one of these rolesyou will be contacted andinvited to training sessionsby de Poel.

For any further informationplease contact ResourcingTeam Leader, Julie Dowey03000 267 189 or AngelaBaldam 03000 267 249.

8

news

A positive ‘ASK’As part of the council’s approach to the continuingausterity programme and reductions in spending, Cllr Simon Henig launched the ‘Ask’ programme infull council earlier this year. The programme seeks tofind new ways of retaining frontline services whilereducing the financial commitments of the council.

The programme invites ‘expressions of interest’ by groupsand communities in the county to come up with new waysof running our services or assets. You may already befamiliar with the successful asset transfer programmeswhich have involved leisure centres and communitybuildings. The ‘Ask’ is looking to see what elsecommunities, voluntary organisations and localbusinesses are keen to get involved in.

The initial offer was made via presentations to our localcommunity organisations such as town and parishcouncils, as well as the voluntary sector, to all 14 AreaAction Partnerships (AAPs) and the County DurhamPartnership Forum. Information is also on the website.

Interested parties or individuals are asked to completeand return an expression of interest form, which can bedownloaded from: www.durham.gov.uk/communityassets

All successful proposals will need to be sustainable,provide a financial case and meet local needs.

The programme is being overseen by a steering group ofsenior officers representing all service groupings led byLorraine O’Donnell, assistant chief executive. The groupis currently considering the initial ‘expressions of interest’received over the summer to see how they might work.

The programme is at a very early stage. As the ideas withpotential are considered we will involve employees inhelping to develop these further.

If you have any enquiries, please send them to:comm.assets@durham.gov.uk

Team Green Lane, with members Lynne Gilham,Debbie Sutherland, Lisa Sparke, Zoe Bowler (allfrom the Durham Integrated Learning Disabilityservice) and Elizabeth Docchar, a Macmillan nurse,recently completed a 10km assault course in aid ofthe British Heart Foundation.

The team raised just over £300 with their muddypursuits which included being in mud filled ditches,and crawling through water filled tunnels.

Havinga heart

L-R: Anne Smith, Mara Thompson and Carol Lonsdale

The contact phone number to contact the Gypsy, Roma,Traveller (GRT) Service has changed to 03000 261 000.

Calls to the old number, 03000 268 998, will be diverted forthree months, then a message to redial thereafter. Forfurther information on the GRT service, visit:www.durham.gov.uk/travellers

Change of number

MOT testing and winter vehicle checks are available at ourcouncil service centres for vehicles owned by localresidents and businesses. With prices starting from £42 forMOTs and from £26 for winter vehicle checks we offer areliable, quality service, by fully qualified technicians.

For further details visit: www.durham.gov.uk/MOT

MOT testing and winter vehicle checks

Wellbeing service created A wellbeing service has been created which will work with both adults andchildren across County Durham.

Graeme Greig, public health, explains “We are working with our partners to affectthose wider determinants of health to deliver a service that helps people achievea positive physical, social and mental state.

The approach is already underway in targeted areas such as Shildon, Mid-Durham and South Moor/Quaking Houses before the countywide service islaunched later this year.”

Wellbeing is associated with people’s happiness, their health and safety, their security,the opportunities that are available to everyone, and their overall quality of life.

The wellbeing approach goes beyond looking at single-issue healthy lifestyleservices and a focus on illness. The approach aims to influence thecircumstances that help people to live well, and build their capacity to beindependent, resilient and maintain good health for themselves and those around them.

wellbeing

9

This year, Carers Rights Day istaking place on 28 November, andis organised to give carersinformation and advice on theirrights and entitlements for claimingbenefits and accessing practicalsupport.

Durham County Carers Support hasorganised four information and advicedays to highlight some of the supportavailable by us and other agencies:

• 24 November 11am–2pm, The Ladder Centre, Ferryhill• 25 November 11am–2pm, Frosterley Village Hall• 27 November 10.30am–2.30pm, St Stephen’s Centre, Stanley• 28 November 10.30am–2.30pm, Seaham CAB, 5 Shakespeare Street,Seaham,

If you, or someone you know, provides unpaid care come along for an informalchat. You can also speak to a solicitor for a consultation on many issues fromwills and trusts to probate, free of charge.

Contact Sam on 01325 524 600 or email sam.stimpson@dccarers.org if youwould like more information.

…and did you know?

If you are a live-in carer, you can be disregarded for the purpose of Council Tax,if you provide care or support for someone for at least 35 hours per week.

To qualify, the person you care for must not be your partner, spouse or your childunder 18 years. They must also be in receipt of qualifying welfare benefits. Formore information, visit the residents area (see benefits) at www.durham.gov.uk

Raising

awareness

of

violenceagainstwomen25 November is InternationalDay for the Elimination ofViolence Against Women. Oneof the aims of the day is tohighlight that the scale and truenature of the issue is oftenhidden.

Durham Police receive

over 1,000 calls every month reportingdomestic abuse but we know thatmany cases go unreported.

If you, or someone you know is avictim of domestic abuse, contactHarbour Support Services, aspecialist service to help localpeople on 03000 20 25 25, or visit:www.durham.gov.uk/domesticabuse

Help...

health

World Diabetes Day focuses onhealthy living and diabetes, and inobserving this, the County Durhamand Darlington Acute NHS TrustDiabetes Team will be hosting anevent in The Louisa Centre in Stanley.

Members of the public are invited to‘drop in’ anytime between 8.30am and5.30pm on Friday, 14 November to meetand chat to members of the team. Youcan have a blood glucose and bloodpressure check, as well as lifestyle andfitness advice.

Drop in on WorldDiabetes Day

Members of the One Point ServiceYouth Work team were recentlypresented with certificates at a OneAwards celebratory event.

The workers attending the event hadsuccessfully completed their Level 3awards in Youth Work accredited byYMCA George Williams College, or inSexual Health and Young Peopleaccredited by One Awards. Two of thelearners, Natalie McDonough andKathryn Barrass, were presented withspecial awards for their commitmentduring their training.

The Level 3 Youth Work qualificationenables workers to move from auxiliarystaff to qualified youth workers. TheLevel 3 in Sexual Health and YoungPeople course allows learners to puttheory into practice, to help thoseworking with young people to developas group work practitioners and exploreand reflect upon their attitudes, feelingsand their knowledge of Sex andRelationship Education (SRE).

One Point successes

10

During Alcohol Awareness Week (17-23 November), we are working withBalance, the North East Alcohol Office, to highlight some of the realhealth harms that we potentially face from drinking too much too often.

Did you know that alcohol is in the same cancer-causing category as tobaccosmoke and asbestos? They are all group 1 carcinogens and alcohol isresponsible for around 12,500 cases of cancer each year. But, importantly, youcan reduce the risk by cutting down on how much alcohol you drink.

It’s uncomfortable reading but alcohol increases your risk of seven differentcancers and the more you drink, and the more often you drink, the greater therisk. For further information visit: www.reducemyrisk.tv

If you are concerned about your levels of drinking or that of someone youknow or care for, you should contact the County Durham Community AlcoholService for confidential help and support on 0191 386 6555.

Alcoholis a group 1carcinogenliketobacco.

Views on your local pharmacy?

Alcohol Awareness Week 2014

Our public health team is seekingthe views of residents on theirlocal community pharmacy - whatservices it offers, how easy it is toaccess, and what could beimproved upon in future.

By completing a quick survey you will

help inform our three year strategyfor community pharmacy. If you livein County Durham please take fiveminutes to complete this onlinesurvey at:www.surveymonkey.com/s/DCN23GZ(closes on 12 December).

11

close-up

In each edition of Buzz weprofile a team or member ofstaff, highlighting theimportant work they do forthe council. This month it’sthe turn of the Regenerationand Economic Development’sPerformance and Planningteam.

The Performance and PlanningTeam helps all staff to know whatRED, and the wider council isplanning to do, and by when.

“We engage with employees andmanagement alike to checkwhether our plans arerealistic and deliverable.Of course we also trackour performance in theshort and medium term.

“We endeavour to supportthe promotion of aPerformanceManagement Frameworkand culture in RED.

The main focus of whatwe do often involvesgathering data andinformation but the aim isto try to ensure that itreaches the right placesand is understood. Part ofthis is to assist staff onmaking their ownperformanceimprovements acrosstheir service area.

“We do this via both the serviceplanning process for team plans and performance indicators, therebycreating new RED and service levelindicators. This helps us in settingmore challenging service targetswhich in turn encourages continuousimprovement.

“The range of activity covered by

RED is vast. It involves a largenumber of major schemes which, aspart of a bigger programme ofworks, can be hard to define usingtraditional key performanceindicators.

“This presents challenges in howwe work, but also makes ourjob a very interesting one aswe endeavour to plan and track thecouncil’s top priorities.”

In 2013 we have:• revised RED’s business continuitystrategy

• updated AAPs on progress in

delivering our town centre deliveryframeworks

• collated data from housingproviders for welfare reformanalysis

• set up a new strategic planningboard for RED includingreview of policies andstrategies• reported servicelevel performancemeasures across allservices, includingagreeing definitionsand supported thedevelopment of asuite of team plans

• compiled Head ofService Plans andthe RED ServicePlan while alsoreportingperformance againstthe council’s priority‘AltogetherWealthier’.

Also during the lastyear, two members ofthe team have hadbabies, one has

reached their thirty yearanniversary of working for thecouncil, two have moved house

and one went on a 3,000+ mile roadtrip around Eastern Europe.

In addition, one ran the Great NorthRun for the very first time and onemember of the team who has run theGreat North Run several times beattheir personal best this year!

Besides enthusing staff about

performance and planning, we

are undertaking a project to

better define our core outputs

from regeneration projects

which we’ll be consulting on

after Christmas.

This will help us to compare

outputs across projects

whether they are funded from

the new European funding

programme, from our own

capital budget or from

external sources. ”

Graham TebbuttPerformance and

Planning Manager

“

Evenings 7:15pm 10th 12th December 2014

Sat Matinee 2:00pm 13th December 2014 Park View Theatre, Chester-le-Street

Tickets: £8, Family Ticket £28 To book call; 0191 385 7500 or

Visit http://rmtc.ticketsource.co.uk

Get a free 7 day gym passto use at any leisure centrein November*

Get a free gym bag andbottle to help begin yourjourney into fitness

*T&Cs apply

www.durham.gov.uk/leisurecentresContact your local leisure centre

Exclusive offer for DurhamCounty Council employees

downtime

Winners

Derwent Manor Hotel: Kelly Parker-Hogg, quality administration assistant, County Hall; Panto (Aladdin family ticket winner): Pauline Thompson, HR supportofficer, County Hall. Internal Communications Survey 2014 winners: Sarah Veitch, support services team leader, Meadowfield (Derwent Manor Hotel B&Bovernight stay); Denise Davis, home support worker, Conifers (Bowes Museum family pass); Nick Orton, payroll and pensions manager, County Hall, AnnetteDonohue, area youth worker, Bishop Auckland and Angela Mulholland, community economic development support officer, Spennymoor (Comedy Store tickets);Nicola Beston, finance officer, Pity Me (Diggerland voucher); Valerie Atkinson, clerical officer, Newton Aycliffe (Visit County Durham VIP Pass)

Gala Theatre’s Spectacular Family Pantomime