Winner of the Unsung Heroes Award is Becky Verlin, Housekeeping Manager for Kent Hospitality.

Becky was nominated for her pivotal role in setting up and running a Covid-19 testing site on campus for our staff and students.

On receiving her award, Becky said: ‘It’s a team effort – there were lots of other people involved, including Colin Smith (from HR), the space management team and others. I am happy to take the award but what I am really proud about is that the ATS team stayed right the way through – they’re the real heroes.’

Becky’s nomination

Becky’s nomination notes that during 2020, universities were asked by the Department for Education to set up asymptomatic testing centres on their campuses for students and staff. In the face of this ‘challenging ask’ and without a clear roadmap, the University was able to set up and run a full testing site service for our staff and students, which has continued into the 2021/22 academic year.

Becky’s nomination notes that she was instrumental in the setting up of the site, training and support of staff and ongoing delivery of the testing facility. She is praised for delivering ‘a great service with skill, professionalism and good humour’ and it is noted that ‘the University owes her a debt of gratitude for her leadership of this project’.

The award also reflects that, while working on the new testing centre, Becky continued with her ‘day job’ as well as advocating for others as a staff representative on our Joint Staff Negotiating and Consultation Committee (JSNCC).

Read more about Becky, including her ATS site role, in her Kent People profile published earlier this year.