The Channel Islands Co-operative Society worker who rolled out its successful ‘Quiet Hour’ scheme has been honoured at the society’s Training and Recognition Awards.
Caryn Wells is the Coordinator of ‘Quiet Hour’, an initiative introduced for islanders living with autism. She won the Ambassador of the Year 2017 Award for implementing the successful roll out of the weekly ‘Quiet Hour’, in conjunction with local charity, Autism Jersey, at Grand Marché’s St Helier and St Peter.
The initiative was trialled in October 2017 and later became a permanent fixture in January 2018. The aim of the initiative is to create an easier shopping environment for adults and children who are on the autism spectrum.
Chief executive officer, Colin Macleod, said: “Caryn wanted to make a real difference to the communities we serve, especially to those people living in our community on the autism spectrum. She showed great enthusiasm and worked hard liaising with Autism Jersey and Guernsey, and with our store teams to initiate training and ensure our colleagues were aware of the autism spectrum and the impact that a ‘Quiet Hour’ could have on customers.”
Locale Sion was named the Society’s Store of the Year 2017 and won awards for Best Compliance Overall and Top Performance Balanced Scorecard.
The evening saw a number of other Society colleagues from Jersey collect individual effort awards. Chris Pugsley was named Customer Service Ambassador 2017 and won the Society’s Co-operation award for his consistent dependability, reliability, hard-work and commitment. Chloe Lowery won the Acts of Kindness award for her generosity towards an elderly customer, including taking the time to visit the customer at their home.
The Society’s Human Resources and Payroll team received the Demonstrating Commitment award for their dedication, passion and cooperation when managing a critical payroll issue.
Ivone Milton, Maurice Norbrega, Rubina Sousa, Ilidio Fernandes and Paulo Gouveia all received awards in recognition of their efforts to live out the Society’s values.
Colin added: “The success of The Channel Islands Co-operative Society has been built on its people, what they do on a daily basis is what our customers remember and so it’s important that we recognise and celebrate those who make the Society what it is.”
Other winners from Jersey were the team from En Route St Mary who took the Acts of Kindness award for their regular assistance of a visually impaired customer. Locale Georgetown won Best Christmas Store and Locale Don Street won the Co-operation award.
