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Date published: 16 July 2022
Honours recipients with the mayor
Local residents who were awarded New Year’s Honours have enjoyed afternoon tea with the Mayor of Rochdale.
Earlier this year, Damieon Hartley-Pickles, of Greater Manchester Police, and Zoe Sutcliffe, of Littleborough, were both named as receiving the British Empire Medal for outstanding charity work and services to community during Covid-19, respectively, whilst Wendy Anne Hardaker was presented with the Award of Companion of the Order of Bath.
Read more: Olympic sailor Stuart Bithell awarded MBE in the New Year's Honours listPublished: 04 January 2022
Read more: Local volunteer awarded BEM in New Year's HonoursPublished: 04 January 2022
Lord Lieutenant Sir Warren Smith presented the awards in his last investiture ceremony at Gorton Monastery on 31 May. The Mayor of Rochdale also attended the ceremony and invited the recipients to join him for afternoon tea at Number One Riverside which took place on 13 July.
The Mayor Ali Ahmed was joined by Damieon and Anne, as Zoe was unable to attend.
Zoe and her fellow organiser recipient Maxine Grimshaw, of Bury, were both awarded the BEM for establishing Scrubs Hub Bury, Oldham and Rochdale during the first Covid-19 lockdown.
Read more: Volunteers are sewing scrubs for local NHS heroesPublished: 09 April 2020
Maxine, an experienced material pattern cutter and Zoe, a professional costume designer used their expertise and history of fundraising to establish 'Scrubs Hub Bury, Oldham and Rochdale' during the first lockdown of the Covid Pandemic. They recruited and co-ordinated a network of over 220 skilled volunteers to supplement and increase the supply of PPE to both the NHS and the wider care sectors.
Between them, they recruited the Hub's volunteers, who were, 'locked down' in their homes, across three boroughs and created instruction packs for them to meet the specifications and needs of clinical and care workers. They produced the hub's branding and started a crowdfunding campaign to resource the materials, securing over £12,000 from town councils, local businesses and other local communities.
The Hub needed to meet huge demand and responded quickly and over eight crucial weeks, volunteers produced 2,360 sets of 'scrubs' and over 10,000 items of Personal Protective Equipment. They used 'live' online broadcasts, providing much-needed face-to-face communication between the volunteers, funders, manufacturers and NHS professionals. The finished scrubs were collected, quality checked, packaged, and then delivered to the frontline.
They created a virtual community; an intergenerational group, with wide ranging abilities, united in making a difference which went on to create other products to support the community throughout the pandemic including face coverings and toys.
Greater Manchester Police officer Damieon Hartley-Pickles, who has over 20 years' service in GMP and is currently acting as a response sergeant in Rochdale, raised a phenomenal £50,000 for charities over the past decade.
He began his fundraising for various hospices around the North West, before dedicating much of his time to an Oldham youth charity, Mahdlo, who deliver life skills and offer chances to underprivileged young people in Oldham.
He has organised and taken part in 24-hour football matches, as well as running around his back garden over 4,800 times with his wheelbarrow in order to complete a half marathon, an effort that saw him raise over £1,700 for the NHS and Mahdlo.
Public servant Wendy Hardaker has been recognised in the UK's Legal 500 GC Powerlist 2020 and received a Civil Service Leadership Award. She brought together lawyers from seven teams, in nine national locations, to create the Commercial Law Group within the Government’s Legal Department which she leads.
The Law Group provides commercial legal advice to support the Government’s £50bn per annum spend on contracts, from critical infrastructure to citizen services such as Universal Credit.
The Group supported matters of national importance, such as the EU Exit and was key to the commercial response in UK's fight against Covid-19. Wendy helped deliver more than 8,600 contracts against hugely tight timelines, including the £8 billion spent on 32 billion PPE items; the £7 billion spent on testing and ultimately the £2.9 billion spent on 267 million doses of the vaccine.
She helped overhaul the Government Legal Department’s delivery model, reducing the external law firms from 50 to 18 whilst modernising relationships to create a common approach rather than disparate working. She champions inclusion and wellbeing within her team which reflects society’s diversity. Despite challenging personal circumstances, she invests time in developing and helping all her colleagues, starting a commercial lawyer trainee scheme and she is the Group’s Carers' Champion; Menopause Champion; and a mentor to many.
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