Depot Staff of the Year

Name: Noel Scarry
Job title: Technician
Company: Chiltern Railways
Location: Wembley Light Maintenance Depot

Why they should be this years depot staff of the year?
"In February 2011 Wembley Light Maintenance Depot Technician Noel Scarry – or Scaz as he is more commonly known – will have been a railwayman for 50 years. All of the staff that work with Noel at Wembley Depot see him as Mr Reliable – the man who will always be at hand to help whenever there is trouble.

In 1979 Wembley LMD Manager Paul McCarthy came across him for the first time. Paul cites; “When I started on the Railway at Old Oak Common in 1979 Noel was a Shift Supervisor. During this time he mentored me and many others. Now I am Noel’s manager, he is the most reliable member of my team – he is always flexible, and will always stay until his allotted tasks are complete. Noel’s attitude to his duties is epitomised by his actions on Christmas Eve 2009. I let him know he could leave early to spend more time with his family, to which he responded that his booked duties didn’t end for another three hours, and he would be finishing his shift!”

Noel is due to retire in 2011 and we all know that the Railway industry will go on, no matter who leaves, but you can be sure that Wembley Depot will be a poorer place when Scaz hangs up his tools".

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“He is reliable and dedicated. He is always the first to arrive for shift and the last to leave, he comes into work come rain or shine he is never of sick and always makes me smile”.

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“Noel is every other technician's favourite person to work with. This is because of his humanity, sense of humour but above all his sheer professionalism on the job. He is the ultimate team player and goes out of his way to help anybody else that requires it. This includes fellow technicians, the boss and anybody else that is on depot”.

Date of event: 30-3-10

Name: Melanie Aworer
Job title: Admin Support
Company: FCC
Location: Hornsey TSC

Why they should be this years depot staff of the year?
“I started with the Company in May this year and Melanie surprised me with the way she goes above and beyond her role to help anyone around her. Not only is she always happy, taking on more than her duties and ensuring the staff are dealt with efficiently, but she gets involved in a more compassionate way and does things for the staff that she needn't do. Melanie will contact HR or payroll on behalf of the employee, instead of giving them the contact details and asking them to go direct. She makes an impact on all who work with her, retaining many friends even after they have left the Company. Melanie has been under extreme pressure for the last 6 months or more, when she was running the office single handed, doing 3 people's work and even though she suffered a very sad loss in her private life she still managed to smile and put her own problems to the back while she tackled the tasks ahead of her.

She rarely takes time off, extremely reliable and showed me immense kindness, perseverance, tolerance and patience in teaching me the job. In addition she works at the weekends to catch up and is an absolute pleasure to work with. I and others feel Melanie deserves recognition for not just one event but a continuous 'going the extra mile'.

Date of event: 19-8-10

Name: Cliff Conway
Job title: Stores Manager
Company: London Underground
Location: Stonebridge Park

Why they should be this years depot staff of the year?
“A helpful, clever and resourceful worker. Stays over to complete jobs with his team, the volume of work that gets produced is far above the other Fleet locations. The work load is always dealt with in a fast and efficient method”.

Date of event: 18-8-10

Name: Craigentinny Production Planners
Job title: Fleet planer
Company: East Coast Main line
Location: Craigentinny

Why they should be this years depot staff of the year?
“I would like to nominate the above team because the go beyond the call off duty on many occasions. They are dedicated, helpful and very hard working. When problems appear they are there instantly with solutions and help. They also deal with all aspects of the job from long term planning to plan in special checks/safety checks. They cover 12 hrs to make sure the depot is always manned. As they are a small team they work well together and help each other out. They also have great communication/relationships with staff, contractors and control. They should be picked because an award for all the hard work and dedication over the years”.

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I will add that the PPC team is dedicated in its planning of depot activities in terms of Maintenance. They support the Depot management team in their absence and keep the day to day production line flowing. The results bearing from this meticulous planning is that we run the fleet to its maximum with limited spares to support. This is not only in terms of our own East Coast fleet but that of Cross Country which Craigentinny is responsible for also in terms of all its L4 and L5 maintenance".

Date of event: 16-8-10

Name: Michael Rose
Job title: Train Presentation Supervisor
Company: National Express East Anglia
Location: Crown Point Depot

Why they should be this years depot staff of the year?
“Michael's contribution to the Train Presentation Department has been invaluable since he joined us as a Supervisor approximately a 18 months ago. He takes an active role in helping to promote best practise across all Train Presentation areas. Michael is extremely approachable and is always willing to help other colleagues and listen sympathetically to his staff. Michael also has innovative ideas aimed at improving performance. His most recent being a photo tag with contact details, on stop boards, in order to prevent delays occurring when left on inadvertently. Michael's dedication to duty is also admirable and he has given up his weekend at short notice, to work, when his Team Leader went sick to ensure the safety of his team”.
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“Because he is friendly, helpful, approachable, reliable and always willing to help”.

Date of event: 28-6-10

Name: Dave Thomas
Job title: Quality & Safety Manager
Company: Southern
Location: Selhurst depot

Why they should be this years depot staff of the year?
“I nominate Dave because of his enthusiasm and desire in developing local depot safety arrangements at the Selhurst depot. He has gone beyond the normal work requirements and this work has led to a significant reduction in depot protection irregularities and contributes to an improved safety culture

Dave has developed from risk assessment revised depot train protection arrangements including protection equipment including the "limpet plate" to allow “not to be moved” boards to be locked onto the train during maintenance activities. He has trained, implemented and monitored these arrangements and work tirelessly to ensure they are effective and robust”.

Date of event: 13-5-10

Name: William Zimmerman
Job title: Depot Maintenance Manager
Company: LUL Bakerloo Depot
Location: Stonebridge Park Depot

Why they should be this years depot staff of the year?
"Goes out of the way to train their team, assists all members of staff with their knowledge of rail stock, consistently high standard of work and a full team member within all areas of the depot".

Date of event: 6-5-10

Name: Uwes Patel
Job title: Section Administrator
Company: Network Rail
Location: Blackburn PWay

Why they should be this years depot staff of the year?
"Uwes is one of the most helpful, versatile and reliable members of staff at the Blackburn depot, regularly helping others out with their requests. Uwes has also recently retained his track skills qualification so can now assist with track work when required.

Following a spate of cable theft on the area Uwes quickly responded to the problem by assisting with hand signaling duties and coordinating the depot fault response – both roles over and above his normal duties. It was thanks to Uwes’ response and other members of the on-call team that trains were able to start running again on a busy commuter route, enabling passengers to get home from work".

Date of event: 4-5-10