Ashington Town Council Celebrates Outstanding Administrative Work of Gary Holmes
Ashington Town Council want to recognise the exceptional work of Gary Holmes, Administration Assistant, who has gone above and beyond in his commitment to serving the Council and local community.
While the Council often shares news about improvements to public assets, play areas, funding, and events, the unsung efforts that allow these successes frequently go uncelebrated. On this occasion, the Council wishes to honour Gary's outstanding contributions.
Gary joined the Council nine months ago, demonstrating an eagerness to find solutions and lighten the load for his colleagues. When the Council recently took on the direct management of several allotment sites, it created a significant administrative burden to organise and regulate allotment data. With little prior knowledge, Gary took the initiative to teach himself and build an all-encompassing database system from scratch.
"Gary's commitment to what was needed and his self-driven learning to deliver that and more deserves special recognition," said Sarah Eden, Executive Officer, "There are Allotment Management Systems out there that Councils can purchase, but Gary created ours to meet our precise needs. The system holds all required tenant information, allows us to create invoices, manage notes, inspections and correspondence, and can be adapted as we move forward."
Gary's dedication exemplifies the timeless British saying “God is in the details.”
When asked about this specific task, Gary said, "The motivation was to deliver something we didn't have, but of my own so if anything doesn't work, or needs to be added, I can do that easily. The effort was worth it, although incredibly hard at first, with plenty of stuff still to learn, the end result has exceeded my expectations. There is still plenty left to do, but the foundation is there now, and I am astonished what I can do with it."
While the important work of administrators often goes unnoticed, Ashington Town Council celebrates Gary's motivation, problem-solving skills, and spirit of empowering solutions as vital to the Council's success. His diligent administrative work, with the devil in the detail, is what allows us to best serve our community day in and day out.
