The Friendlies was proud to recognise the hard work of people within the organisation at the eighth annual Friendlies Awards Evening, on Friday, March 12.
Close to 300 people attended the annual event that acknowledged the excellent work of many across the organisation from the hospital, pharmacy and physiotherapy and allied health.
The Friendlies awards night recognised the years of service staff have worked from 10, 15, 20, 25 and even 30 years. In addition, there were 27 individual and team awards presented to doctors, staff and volunteers for their work and support of The Friendlies. These included awards for customer service, excellence awards in Health & Safety and Leadership & Management, as well as individual awards for our core values – Friendliness, Compassion, Diligence, Wisdom, Courage and Trust.
CEO Alan Cooper said the standard of both nominees and award recipients continued to grow each year, further strengthening the organisations’ commitment to excellence.
“Each year we receive hundreds of nominations for our staff, volunteers and teams. A wonderful part of the process is reviewing the nominations and reading the positive comments about our staff, written by their colleagues,” Mr Cooper said.
“It was heartening to recognise great work being done, but also to see our staff at the event cheering each other on, supporting and encouraging one another.”
Guest Speaker at the Awards evening was Adventurer Justin Jones. His exploits have earnt him two Guinness World Records and a place as one of Australia’s 50 Greatest Explorers of all time. Justin and his friend Cas kayaked unassisted across the Tasman Sea from Australia to New Zealand and completed the first unsupported polar expedition from the edge of Antarctica to the South Pole and back.
Justin reinforced that planning is the most important part of any risk-taking, and reiterated that your life is yours to live, so make the most of it!
Here is the list of our Award winners:


Stuart Bonnett - MC for the evening

Alan Cooper

Justin Jones (guest speaker)

Justin Jones (guest speaker)

James Waters

Mark Walsh

Norma Frost

Kate McLean

Alan Cooper and Rob Scott (Excellence Award for Leadership and Management)

Alan Cooper and Susan Brigden (Excellence Award for Quality and Safety)

Alan Cooper and Liz Anderson (Trust Award)

Alan Cooper and Angela Pickstone (Award for Diligence)

Alan Cooper and Ollie Costello (Award for Compassion)

Alan Cooper and Jodi Spencer (Award for Courage)

Alan Cooper and Trish Sorbello (Service Award for Volunteering)

Staff Development Team (Outstanding Service for Support Team)

Alan Cooper and Geoff Voges (Service Award for Support Service Individual)

Alan Cooper and Sherin Alex (Perceptor Award)

Unit 1 Team (Outstanding Service - Clinical Team)

Alan Cooper and Vanessa Vincent Paul (Outstanding Service - Clinical)

Alan Cooper and Dr Rob Edwards (Outstanding Service Surgical)

Alan Cooper and Dr Emeka (Outstanding Service Medical)

Alan Cooper and Andrew Smith (Outstanding Service to the Community)

CIU Team (Outstanding Customer Service Doctor Nominated)

Unit 2 Team (Outstanding Customer Service People's Choice)

Alan Cooper and Donna Stallan (Outstanding Customer Service Award)

Mick Gerrard and Tricia Payne (Spirit of the Friendlies Award)

Tricia Payne (Spirit of the Friendlies Award)

Donna Stallan accepting on behalf of Judy van Rooijen (Runner up - Employee of the year)

Louise Clarkson (Employee of the year)
Our Years of Service Awards:


All our Award Winners

Alan Cooper and Jackie Emery (celebrating 30 years of service)

Alan Cooper and Donna Stallan (25 years)

James Waters (25 years)

Joy Bass (20 years)

Leela Suosaari (20 years)

Nicole Lewis (20 years)

20 year Recipients

15 years recipients

Karen Narayan (15 years)

Terri McCracken (15 years)

John Melvin (15 years)

Emma Shears (15 years)

Rhonda Johnson (15 years)

10 year recipients

Janey Bedford (10 years)

Almira Cardino (10 years)

Natalie Laycock (10 years)

Lynda Simons (10 years)

Nursing Graduate Annastasia Cook

Valentina Costa (MPB Award)

Retirements

Jenny White

Sue Day

Ann Hansen

Yvonne McCrudden