The long service of three council employees has been recognised.
Electrical services manager Donal Cullen and arborist Patrick Lindsay have completed 20 years and the head greenkeeper of Douglas golf course Murray Jones, 30 years.
To mark their achievement, His Worship the Mayor Councillor John Skinner JP presented each with a certificate.
The Mayor and Mayoress with long-service employees Donal Cullen and Murray Jones, together with Council Leader Councillor David Christian. (Patrick Lindsay unavailable for photo)
His Worship said: ‘The loyalty and commitment of our employees is a vital contribution to the continued success of the Council; and our long service awards are the cornerstone of how the Council shows its recognition in the workplace, and helps to reinforce the relationship between the Council as an employer and its greatly value members of staff.
‘The awards are a way of saying “thank you” to our employees, particularly those who have given many years of service, and recognising their immense contribution of that period of time.’
Mr Cullen, (pictured below), joined the Council in August 1996 as a foreman electrician achieving the position of electrical services manager in 2009. His role covers the design, supervision and delivery of the Council’s street lighting throughout the town, along with decorative lighting such as in Summerhill Glen and the Christmas illuminations. Most recently he has been involved in the new operations system for Council-run car parks and CCTV installation around the town.
Receiving his certificate Mr Cullen said he accepted it on behalf of his whole team and praised them for their excellent support.
Mr Lindsay, who was unable attend the presentation, joined the Council in May 1996 as an apprentice gardener and became a permanent employee in 2000 as a gardener with the parks service’s mobile team. In January 2004 he joined the arborist team as an assistant before rising to the role of arborist in October 2007. His work involves maintaining a safe, well managed tree stock throughout Douglas, working in all weathers and in emergency situations to ensure public safety.
Mr Jones, (pictured below), began as a golf course greenkeeper in August 1986, became foreman in November 1999 and later head greenkeeper. He and his specialist team are responsible for the maintenance of Douglas golf course, the work of celebrated designer Dr Alastair MacKenzie, and have been involved in Douglas securing a Green Flag award for the golf course in 2014 then retaining it for the past two years. (For 2016 the Council holds a total of six Green Flags).
Mr Jones said receiving his certificate ‘meant a great deal’ and how he had left school to join the Council in 1986 to do a job he still enjoyed enormously 30 years on.
His Worship praised the loyalty of the Council’s staff while the Leader of the Council
Councillor David Christian MBE JP spoke of how the electrical services section had advanced the provision and upgrading of street lighting in the town, and enhanced the Christmas decorative light installations. Mr Lindsay was, he said, a valued member of the parks service while, under Mr Jones’s stewardship, Douglas golf course – an amenity that was ‘a credit to Douglas Borough Council’ - had gone from strength to strength.
