Public Servant of the Year 2021
We are delighted to announce the winner in the Public Servant of the Year category.
Anthony Lord
Anthony is a dedicated and passionate youth worker who works for Salford City Council. Anthony works tirelessly to ensure vulnerable children are looked after and safe. Throughout the pandemic he has arranged food parcels and arts and crafts activities to be delivered to families in Salford. He posted a weekly video throughout the first lockdown to encourage the children to keep busy and help others during this unprecedented time. He goes above and beyond in his job, constantly encouraging children and young people to stay on the right path, understand emotional and physical health, and be kind to themselves and others.
The other finalists were:
Cat Taylor
Cat is a manager at For Housing who always goes the extra mile. Over the last year Cat has worked incredibly hard to provide covid safe temporary housing for vulnerable people. During the pandemic, she has arranged for more than 100 properties to be provided as emergency temporary accommodation. This has involved quickly furnishing and carpeting self-contained units so that people can move in straight away. This work has been vital to ensuring that covid safe housing has been available for the most vulnerable Salford residents at a time of very high demand.
Colin Robinson
Colin works as a Patient Transport Assistant for North West Ambulance Service. During the pandemic Colin has volunteered to help to relieve pressure on the NHS by working in Accident and Emergency. Despite recently having both hips replaced, Colin did not hesitate to begin working demanding new shift patterns including nights. Colin played a huge role during lockdown in raising the spirits of his local community by combining his love for Swinton Lions with the applause for the NHS and key workers on a Thursday evening. Every Thursday during lockdown Colin dressed up in a lion’s costume and encouraged his community to come together in celebration of all the key workers.
George Blagden
George manages the Beacon Youth Centre. George is dedicated to supporting young care leavers and young offenders back into work and goes above and beyond to ensure the community can access the Beacon centre. During the pandemic, he has provided storage space and kitchen facilities to help local groups to deliver 4000 free meals to shielding households and over 2000 essential items and food parcels to families and people struggling financially. George is also a very committed fundraiser and has raised considerable amounts for charities such as the Salfordian Hotel.
Spirit of Salford Community Awards 2025
To find out more about the awards or to get involved in any way please get in touch with us.