City Council Staff Learning Celebration

(Date of issue: Friday, 4 December 2009)

Carlisle City Council held its annual ‘Celebration of Learning’ event on Tuesday, 01 December, at Tullie House Museum & Art Gallery, to recognise the achievements of 60 staff, who have gained qualifications ranging from literacy through to postgraduate diplomas. At the event, presentations were made by the Leader of the City Council, Cllr Mike Mitchelson and the City Council’s Town Clerk & Chief Executive, Maggie Mooney.

The City Council is committed to ‘leading by example’ in developing its staff. In 2007, Carlisle City Council became the first authority in the Northwest to be awarded the Get On Award, which recognises excellence in Skills for Life provision. A new corporate development programme,

CityFirst, was launched in 2008, which is designed to deliver a range of in-house training and developing opportunities for staff at all levels. The Council is working with external training providers to deliver qualifications for its staff ranging from level one and two qualifications as part of Train to Gain, through to degree and postgraduate courses.

Leader of Carlisle City Council, Cllr Mike Mitchelson, said:

“The staff ‘Celebration of Learning’ event demonstrates that developing a workforce for the future is extremely important. Our staff are our most important asset, and we will support them to fulfil their potential by continuing to invest in learning and development. Every member of staff that has attained an award has worked extremely hard and their efforts are to be thoroughly commended.’’

Carlisle City Cllr Barry Earp portfolio holder for Performance and Development, said:

“This event celebrates all that we as a council stand for, all of those involved have every reason to be proud of their achievements. I am delighted to see staff firmly grasping the opportunities presented to them in developing the necessary skills and abilities, which will help Carlisle City Council go from strength to strength and grow and develop for the future.”

Maggie Mooney Chief Executive of Carlisle City Council said:

“The ‘Celebration of Learning' event is about recognising the achievements of our staff and is also an opportunity to recognise a great deal of courage too, especially for those who are new to learning, as it isn’t easy to take that first step into the unknown. It’s not just about working hard and gaining qualifications, but also recognising that many of our staff have shown a desire to be the best they can possibly be. We are a learning council and high performing staff ultimately means we as, an authority, provide much improved services, which we pride ourselves on delivering to the residents of Carlisle.’’