Long Service Awards: In Conversation with Nicola Spear

You may have recently seen that we’re running a series of short profile pieces from recipients of the Council’s long-service awards. This recognition is given for employees that have spent either 25 or 40 years working for local government.

For our first profile piece, we sat down with Sharon Lewis who works in social care. Our second profile is with Nicola Spear.

Nicola has been a cleaner at the Dock Office for 25 years. At the long-service awards Nicola spoke about her work over the years and how the flexibility of the role benefits her lifestyle.

“When I began, I was working 2.5-hour shifts but this has increased over the years. The job works great for me, balancing this with helping the grandchildren. I don’t have to stress and worry about how I’m able to help out.

“The flexibility is great. You’ve got the rest of the day to do what you want, and I’ve got the excuse not to have to cook our tea!”

“It’s a good place to work, we’re lucky. There were 11 of us when we first started, and they used to come and check to make sure we were doing our work. There are only three of us now and you’re trusted to get on and do your work. It’s not like that in a lot of other places. It’s nice.

“We’ve always got on down there too, we’ve been really lucky with the staff over the years. It runs smoothly compared to a lot of other places.”

During the conversation, Nicola reflected on what has, or in this case hasn’t changed over the years working for the Vale.

“The work isn’t much different from how it was over 20 years ago and neither is the building, I think it was last decorated many years ago when Prince Charles visited.

“When I started working here I thought I’d just be here for a little while. You don’t think you’ll still be there so many years later. I’ve really met some great people along the way. It’s been wonderful.”