The Alley wins the National Personal Safety Award!

Northern Ireland’s Alley Theatre has won the prestigious Safer Workplace Award at the National Personal Safety Awards 2009 presented by The Suzy Lamplugh Trust in London last week.

The National Personal Safety Awards were held at the Hilton Hotel in London, with the Alley scooping the top award of the night, the “Safer Workplace Award” sponsored by Royal Mail. This was a tremendous achievement for the Alley Theatre, who faced tough competition from organizations from across the UK and Northern Ireland in making the finals shortlist and was delighted to be announced winners at this star studded gala night.

“The Alley Theatre is delighted to be recognized for our hard work in promoting personal safety amongst staff and user groups” commented John Kerr, Alley Theatre manager. “The Suzy Lamplugh Trust is recognised around the world as being the leading authority on personal safety and to win recognition at their recent awards ceremony was a tremendous achievement for The Alley Theatre, Strabane District Council and our staff”

The judges said that measures the Alley Theatre took to improve personal safety was incredibly thorough, and what particularly impressed them was the fact that as well as risk assessments, training and policies, they actually effected a culture change, so that all employees are now encouraged to openly discuss any safety concerns and to plan their working day with safety in mind. It was very clear to the judges that this was not a tick-box exercise, but that the Alley Theatre places the personal safety of its staff at the heart of everything it does. Also shortlisted for the Safer Workplace Awards were Norfolk County Council and EDF Energy.

Ann Elledge, Director of Personal Safety at Suzy Lamplugh Trust, said “The National Personal Safety Awards were established by the Suzy Lamplugh Trust two years ago to recognise the achievements of organisations, workplaces and individuals around the country in promoting personal safety. We were extremely impressed by the calibre of nominees this year and The Alley Theatre were deserving winners against impressive competition.” For more information about the National Personal Safety Awards, visit www.suzylamplugh.org/awards.