The UK Environment Agency held its annual national awards ceremony at Derby Art Gallery and Museum on 08 May. Around 200 officers and staff members attended the event.
John Leyland, Chief of Staff, welcomed everyone to the ceremony and hosted the award presentations. Judges shared their experiences of judging the nominations and the challenges they had in selecting the best finalists from the 312 nominations from various offices in England.
Former British High Commissioner to India and the Chief Executive of Environment Agency, Sir James Bevan, Environment Agency Chair and UK Commissioner for Global Commission on Adaptation, Emma Howard Boyd, Executive Director of Environment and Business Harvey Bradshaw and Executive Director of Operations Toby Willison presented the awards to 30 recipients in 10 categories.
Charan Singh Sekhon, Bedford based Senior Environment Officer and Diversity Project Coordinator for East Anglia area of East of England became the first British Asian Sikh Officer since the launch of national awards to receive the runner up award in the category of Chairs’ Award for Diversity Champion.
After the ceremony Charan said ‘Diversity is close to my heart and I have always had a huge passion to do more. I am so proud to be involved with the Environment Agency to promote our fantastic work on protecting and enhancing the environment and job opportunities among all underrepresented communities in East Anglia. I have worked really hard but it was only possible with huge support from my colleagues. This award will always remind me to work even harder in the future. We need to ensure our workforce reflects the communities we serve. We will continue to extend our partnerships with diverse communities, colleges and universities to attract the best candidates for our jobs.’
