7 Islanders recognised for protecting vulnerable adults and kids

Thursday 29 March 2018

A probation officer who saved a woman’s life was just one of the islanders rewarded this week for their “outstanding contribution” in looking after vulnerable adults and children.

The awards were designed to recognise where frontline civil servants have taken that extra step to help improve the lives of vulnerable islanders.

Giving out the Safeguarding Awards to seven professionals who have been nominated by various organisations, the Independent Chair of the Safeguarding Partnership Board, Glenys Johnston OBE, described protecting adults and children as complicated and sometimes dangerous work, but one that is rewarding.

Ms Johnston told the room full of multi-agency professionals - including police, education, children’s services and family care - that improvements need to be made to help protect vulnerable adults and children in the island, but these awards show the work being done and the people at the heart of the services that go that ‘extra mile’ to provide it.  

The first person to receive an award was Probation Officer Janette Urquhart, who saved a woman’s life after she became concerned that the woman who had been referred to the probation service due to an alcohol problem, starting missing appointments.

Janette alerted the police, and in doing so, the woman was found collapsed and taken to the intensive care unit. In her nomination for the award, which was read out by Ms Johnston, the police said that the woman “may not have survived much longer” without the action by Janette.

Reacting to the recognition for her award Janette told Express; “It’s really important public sector workers are valued and getting this award makes me feel valued in the job I do. We all go in every day and we do our jobs and we do them to the best of our ability, but sometimes something happens where you need to take that extra step.”

She added: “We call people clients, customers or service users but sometimes you’ve got to see the humanity behind that and the vulnerability, and if you can assess and see that vulnerability and respond to it than that can obviously save a life, which basically it did in this case.”

Pictured: PC Joanna Carter, Karen Ogilvie, Dr Graham Ramsden, Janette Urquhart and Laura Osmand were among the seven people who received an award for their contribution to safeguarding vulnerable adults and children. 

It’s not just the probation service where islanders have to recognise vulnerable islander’s needing support and intervention. Karen Ogilvie and her team at a voluntary community pre-school became concerned for a child in their care, which turned out to be a very complex case. They gained the trust of the mother and was able to seek help through a number of agencies, which wasn’t easy with the processes and systems involved.

On receiving her award, Karen said; “Without the support of my team and my Deputy, we wouldn’t have got through that.

“Our day-to-day job is building relationships with families and children, and working on a learning journey with them as such, not necessarily a safeguarding one, that’s an added extra.

“It had time challenges, another challenge of understanding the wording to put down on paperwork and what information to fill in and the correct procedure to follow. Although you do the training, when you’re actually doing it with those emotions involved it’s very different. It was a really long, challenging but rewarding journey. We’ve learnt a lot from it.”

Four professionals in various fields who have helped provide and improve the services available in safeguarding islanders were also recognised at the awards. These included PC Joanna Carter, who’s work and relationship with Jersey schools as part of the Community Policing Team has led her to report a number of cases to the Multi Agency Safeguarding Hub (MASH) as well as her ability to speak Portuguese and Spanish which has helped reach out to different parts of the island’s community.  

Pictured: Laura Osmand who helped set up Jersey's Sexual Assault Referral Centre (SARC) was given an award for her work in providing a safe place for victims of rape and sexual assault. 

Laura Osmand, the Coordinator for the new Sexual Assault Referral Centre (SARC), who has built a place for victims of rape or sexual assault where they can access support and healthcare following an attack but also the criminal justice system once they are ready to report the crime.

Family Nursing and Home Care Team Leader, Jenny Querns, who’s experience, knowledge and skills in safeguarding children has not only inspired, taught and delivered safeguarding supervision, but also contributed to a number of Serious Case Reviews.  

As well as Glenn De La Haye, who has made a significant difference to the training and awareness of safeguarding practices at Social Security and other agencies, being described as helping to “expand the core base knowledge within the safeguarding team.”

Pictured: Dr Graham Ramsden was given an award for his outstanding contribution towards safeguarding in Jersey for his work in researching bullying. 

A safeguarding award was also given to Educational Psychologist, Dr Graham Ramsden, who has spent 12 months researching bullying within schools. His work has captured the views of over 2300 pupils and 500 school staff, which will lead to a new approach and practice in addressing the issue felt by 50% of people within their school days.

It’s a topic close to Dr Ramsden’s heart, as he is one of those people who experienced bullying at a younger age, describing it as; “A social dynamic, it’s not acceptable but it is a part of it so we have to find out why it happens, how it happens, so we understand more why children need to bully (…) It’s so easy to blame the bully as a bad person, but 66% of bullies are victims of bullying, so we’ve got to help everybody.”

He added that he’s “humbled” to receive the recognition for his work, as he has one over-riding goal which is; “to make a difference to children’s lives, I want to make sure that I’ve made a difference to somebody for the better, that I’ve improved their lives in some way so this is just validation that I’m on the right track.”