Exeter’s street sweepers honoured at annual awards ceremony
Published: 21 October 2022
The work of Exeter’s street sweepers and cleaners in helping the city look great has been recognised at an annual award ceremony.
The Council has a team of 80 outdoor workers and the awards cover not only the street cleansing teams but also those who works in the parks and cemeteries teams.
The 41st Tidy Exeter Group’s Awards, held at Exeter’s historic Guildhall, acknowledges their efforts in removing litter and keeping the city clean.
This year teams faced a number of challenges, including extreme weather from Storm Eunice, the hottest and longest heatwave on record and pressures on staffing levels.
Throughout it all their dedication and hard work has continued to make the city a clean, safe and attractive place to live and visit.
This year’s overall winner was Helen Cunningham. Her commendation said: “Without hesitation, Helen has stepped into a variety of different roles as and where needed, from mechanical sweeping through to toilets.
“This adaptability and team spirit has helped to keep the cleansing department able to continue to provide services that without her reliability and good nature may have failed to deliver.
“Helen truly is to be commended for her work ethic and we are so glad to have her as part of our team.”
Runner-up was Roy Kennedy. His commendation said: “Roy started his role in cleansing in 1998. Since this time Roy has proven himself to be an asset to our city centre solo sweep team, always helping others where he can.”
Other awards were:
Highly Commended – Peter Axford
Personality of the Year – John Adams
Semper Fidelis Award – Andrew Thomas and Ian Lavis
Exeter's High Street branch of McDonald's provided workers with a lunch at the event. Waitrose sponsored the awards.