Unsung heroes FEaturE our new year honours We decided to end the year on a high and celebrate our unsung heroes. Parking News asked for nominations for those members of our community who have gone the extra mile Parking officer Lorna Hogg has nominated Aberdeenshires car park operatives (CPOs) for their work above and beyond providing exceptional parking management. All of our CPOs are trained as World Host Ambassadors, which has helped them deliver a warm and friendly welcome to customers and visitors, with a particular focus on their role as an ambassador for their local area, explains Lorna. Each of the team embraces this ambassadorial role, and has regular stories of assisting the public. These include getting help to restart a customers car and ensuring motorists safety one wild, autumn night by carefully positioning their van complete with orange flashing light across the road when they discovered a fallen tree, before calling for assistance. Then there is the help that is less obvious, such as being an ear when needed or giving first aid. Not every story is a happy tale, and some are very emotional. When a well-known local became unwell, one of our CPOs helped the family get medical assistance from the surgery while awaiting an ambulance. The member of the public never recovered and, some weeks later, the family asked the CPO to the funeral. That shows the level of care and commitment our team gives to our communities. They see this as part of their role, rather than something exceptional for which they should be praised but I wanted to thank them for doing an exceptional job that transcends car park management. Mital Patel, transport officer from London Councils, has won praise for creating a community of parking professionals in the capital. Antoneta Horbury, transport policy manager at the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, says Mital is excellent at circulating information and requests for help a skill that aids local authorities enormously. She is very helpful and the work she does assists local authorities in improving the service they offer to the public. Mital Patels colleagues say she is efficient and always happy to help Britishparking.co.uk 27 PNDec18 pp27-29 Unsung Heroes.indd 27 26/11/2018 16:22