Over 230 staff members and volunteers from Leicestershire Partnership NHS Trust (LPT) were celebrated at a special event to commemorate their dedication and many years of service to the National Health Service (NHS).
LPT, which provides community and mental health services for all ages across Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland, saw staff members ranging from nurses to therapists and dieticians to administrators join volunteers to celebrate their outstanding achievement at three, fully sponsored LPT Long Service Awards events. The celebrations took place on Monday 23 and Monday 30 June. Those who registered to attend the events collectively racked up over 4,765 years’ worth of service to the NHS, achieved between 1 April 2024 and 31 March 2025.
The award ceremonies, which took place at the NSPCC National Training Centre in Leicester, celebrated staff who have worked for the NHS for either 15, 20, 25, 30 or 40 years. Volunteers were also recognised for their five, 10 or 20 years of service with LPT and the NHS. The Trust is also marking staff who have achieved 10 years of service in the NHS by posting them a special certificate and pin badge.
LPT chief executive, Angela Hillery, said: “I felt so proud and thankful for each and every person who came to the events. It was wonderful to spend time hearing their stories and see everyone recognised for their hard work and dedication to serving our local community.
“These individuals each bring a wealth of experience and knowledge to their roles and teams. During their work in the NHS, they will have made a difference to hundreds, if not thousands, of lives – regardless of their role. Without their commitment, resilience and compassion, the NHS would not be able to deliver the fantastic work it does.
“I’d also like to acknowledge all colleagues who achieved a milestone number of years’ NHS service, but who were unable to join a celebration event. This year the Trust had 752 colleagues and 18 volunteers celebrating 13,020 number of years’ service to the NHS. It is just outstanding that we have such a passionate and devoted workforce.”
Everyone who joined one of the celebration events enjoyed a delicious buffet and presentation ceremony, where each person received a certificate, thank you card and pin badge.
Angela added: “Thank you to our sponsors, Tilbury Douglas, Sante Group, Browne Jacobson and our gift in kind sponsors Central Print and the NSPCC. We are so grateful they gave their support and worked with our charity, Raising Health to make the events possible for our staff.”
Staff and volunteer profiles
Some of the colleagues and volunteers who attended the event reflected on their careers and contributions to the NHS.
Nurse, Clare Kozlowski is one of the staff members celebrating over 40 years of NHS service. During her varied career, Clare has worked with the Kings Fund to improve hospital environments for patients, obtained a Fellowship in Older Persons Care from Kings College London and even received a commendation from the fire service after helping to safely evacuate 24 patients with learning disabilities from a serious fire at a Derbyshire hospital, at the beginning of her career.
She said: “I have always enjoyed learning new things and even though I started my career almost 41 years ago, I have always had the opportunity to develop and grow.
“My advice anyone joining the NHS is to enjoy every moment and remember all experiences, whether good, challenging or indifferent, will help to build you as a person and develop you as a leader.”
Specialist eating disorder nurse, Louise Lester is also celebrating 40 years of NHS service. Louise, who has also had roles such as a ward sister and school nurse during her career, said: “I feel very strongly that the NHS is vital to ensure the health and wellbeing of our local and national communities. I believe that optimum health care should be available to everyone and by staying within the NHS I have played a small contributory part. I have had the opportunity to work alongside and learn from such highly skilled professionals, which I wouldn’t have got anywhere else. The NHS is such a special organisation-there is nothing else like it anywhere in the world.”
Corinne Pearson, who has volunteered as a breastfeeding peer supporter for over five years, said: “The thing I enjoy most about my volunteer role is seeing the relief on a new mum’s face, when they attend a group feeling exhausted and anxious and we are able to offer them a friendly, safe space to talk, get advice and reassurance and to meet other mum’s. Having been a new, sleep deprived, anxious mum myself, I know how it feels and what a difference a peer supporter at my local NHS breastfeeding group can make.”
Janice Franklin, who has been a chaplaincy volunteer for five years, said: “I love doing volunteering as a ward visitor; it is so worth doing just to see patients smile. It’s also good for the volunteers as we get a lot of pleasure form visiting. Not everyone is lucky enough to have family or friends who can visit them. It makes such a difference for patients to know there is someone who wants to talk, listen and visit them.”
The Long Service Awards are just one of the ways LPT recognises the care and commitment shown by its staff and volunteers. The Trust also runs monthly Valued Star Awards, celebrating those who have gone above and beyond in bringing to life our core values of trust, integrity, compassion and respect. Nominations can be made for LPT staff or volunteers by colleagues or patients and service users at www.leicspart.nhs.uk/valuedstars . In addition, the Trust’s nurses can be nominated for a coveted and internationally recognised DAISY Award (more details on how to nominate can be found on www.leicspart.nhs.uk/daisy ) as well as the Trust’s annual Celebrating Excellence Awards, which acknowledge a huge range of achievements across LPT’s 5,600-strong workforce. This year, the Celebrating Excellence Awards will be held on Friday 26 September at the Grand Hotel in Leicester, thanks to the generous sponsorship of local partners.
For more information about volunteering opportunities at LPT visit: www.leicspart.nhs.uk/volunteering