Finalists Unveiled for Prestigious 2024 Control Room Awards
The Control Room Awards 2024 finalists have been revealed. These awards celebrate the immense skill, commitment, and resilience of individuals and teams working in control rooms. They recognise the vital contributions of control room operators across various services, including police, fire, ambulance, HM Coastguard, and other critical control operations throughout the UK.
Now in their seventh year, the Control Room Awards are the only accolades dedicated to honouring the extraordinary contributions of these often unseen heroes of the emergency services. The winners will be announced at a glittering awards ceremony on July 18 at the DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel in Stoke on Trent.
The finalists were selected by a high-level judging panel comprising leaders with extensive experience in the control room sector:
Andy Day, Director of Business Development (Public Safety Group), Sopra Steria
Duncan Swan, Chief Operating Officer, British APCO
Ben Hawkins, Former Winner and Ambulance Dispatch Team Leader
Control Room Awards co-founder Mike Isherwood said, “I would like to thank all our judges for bringing their experience and expertise to the judging process and the organisations they represent for supporting the awards. Our excellent judges each provide a really valuable perspective and give added weight to the awards.
"The outstanding quality of the judging panel also recognises the ever-growing profile within the emergency services sector of control room teams and colleagues – and of these awards which celebrate their vital work. Congratulations to all our finalists. They can look forward to the awards ceremony, which promises to be an amazing celebration of the control room community.”
For the third consecutive year, European tech leader Sopra Steria is the Major Sponsor of the Control Room Awards and sponsors the Dispatcher of the Year Award. Sopra Steria’s STORM command and control system is used by nearly 70% of UK police forces.
Andy Day, Director of Business Development (Public Safety Group) at Sopra Steria, said: “Sopra Steria are again delighted to support the Control Room Awards. I am really pleased to return to the judging panel this year after last year's amazing awards. The Control Room Awards are a fantastic way to recognise and celebrate the selfless commitments of those working across emergency first contact and public safety organisations. Coming from this background myself, I am very aware of the brilliant people who keep us safe and the sacrifices they often make to do so.
The judging panel this year had such a tough job due to the sheer volume and excellence of the nominations. It’s great to see so many organisations represented, and a special thanks should go to all the line managers and colleagues who put the time and effort into the nomination. I have no doubt a great majority of this work was done in their own time.
I am really looking forward to the awards night; it’s shaping up to be one of the best ones yet!”
Other organisations supporting this year’s Control Room Awards include the world's leading security technology provider, Motorola, British APCO, the leading UK association for professionals using or deploying public safety technology, Zetron, and System Q.
The finalists for the 2024 awards are as follows:
Bravery and Courage Award
Bonita Richards, East of England Ambulance Service
Jodie Stammers, Kent Police
Edward Elias, Thames Valley Police
Community Champion Award
Tracey Halloran, West Midlands Fire Service
Jennifer Louth, Kent Police
Victoria Lamb, Hampshire and Isle of Wight Constabulary
Control Room Ambassador of the Year - Sponsored by System Q
Steve Reid, Avon and Somerset Police
Sam Catmull, Kent Police
Kelly Whitmore, West Midlands Fire Service
Control Room Call Taker of the Year - Sponsored by Zetron
Rachel Brown, North East Ambulance Service
Hannah Scott, Thames Valley Police
Aaron Pell and Nikki Smith, West Midlands Fire Control
Georgia English, Kent Police
Control Room Dispatcher of the Year – Sponsored by Sopra Steria
Georgina Drewery, Humberside Police
Megan Jewitt, South East Coast Ambulance Service
Gemma Warwick-Mitchell, London Ambulance Service
John Gilhooly Award
Claire Haynes, Hertfordshire Fire and Rescue Service
Daniel Peters, Thames Valley Police
Paul Newstead, Hampshire and Isle of Wight Constabulary
Leader of the Year
Graham Hawley, Cumbria Constabulary
Westley Shaw, South East Coast Ambulance Service
Victoria Grimwood, Devon and Cornwall Police
Lifetime Achievement
Elizabeth Sugden, Humberside Police
Cathy Duffy, Leicestershire Police
Sarah Mears, Kent Police
Services to the Public
Stacey Slade, West Yorkshire Police
Lorraine Summerfield, Humberside Police
Nige Sobey, Devon and Cornwall Police
Team of the Year - Sponsored by Motorola Solutions
Enhanced Crisis Communications Team, Devon and Cornwall Police
B Watch - EOC North, London Ambulance Service
Team C, National Ambulance Service Ireland
The British APCO Control Room Innovation Award
Nick Sutton, Scottish Ambulance Service
Chris Philpott, Humberside Police
The CM101 Victim Portal Team, Hampshire & Isle of Wight Constabulary/Thames Valley Police
Young Achiever of the Year
Thomas Valentine, Scottish Ambulance Service
Ellie Parsons, North East Ambulance Service
Chloe Turner, West Yorkshire Police
For more information on the Control Room Awards, visit www.controlroomawards.com. You can also follow the Control Room Awards on Facebook: @controlroomawards; Twitter: @CR_Awards; and LinkedIn: Control Room Awards.