News & Events
Celebrating our colleagues
22 December 2025
CONGRATULATIONS to the winners and highly commended in our annual Colleague Awards.
A record 200+ nominations were received for five award categories demonstrating the depth of regard and appreciation we hold for our colleagues across the board.
CEO Steve Hoey, who presented the awards at TLA Festive Party at The Village Hotel in Morley, said: “We are an organisation of 150 people who every day are making a real difference not only to the lives of our clients, some of the most vulnerable in society, but, through the support we provide to each other, to our colleagues as well.
“These awards are a way of recognising that and saying ‘thank you’, colleague to colleague and as an organisation as a whole. We really are turning lives around.”
The winners and highly commended for each award were:
Team Member Winner: Simran Kaur, OWL Core & Cluster North
“Simran has shown great determination, great approach to supporting the clients and team members. She is fast, efficient, reliable and has such great expertise. You’re simply the best!”
Highly commended: Arathi Babu, Finance and Samiya Naseer, Beacon Dispersed
Group Member: Winner: Joseph White, Induction Training Group
“Joe is awesome, he coordinates the induction training, arranges diaries, refreshments, rooms, compiles feedback. He also delivers top notch training and receives positive feedback and is a constant high scorer on evaluation sheets. Thank you Joe.”
Highly commended: Sandy Smithen, OWL and Claire Box, Sustain
Leadership Award Winner: Sarah Sharp
“Sarah is a brilliant leader with extensive knowledge about coaching and management. Sarah has positively impacted the culture of TLA and implemented new processes in the schemes to ensure colleagues wellbeing and safety. Sarah is not afraid to be hands on, to have challenging conversations or get involved in anything/everything.”
Highly commended: Kerri Walker, OWL Emergency Accommodation and Mandy Dawson, Woodside.
Kindness Award (in honour of Val Deville) Winner: Trish Fas, Beacon Dispersed
“Trish has the kindest heart, she is always willing to go above and beyond to help and support everyone in the team. She has faced many challenges over the years but still continues to be kind and positive to everyone.”
Highly commended: Passmore Muchenje, Grace Lodge and Ishaaq Karolia, OWL Core & Cluster North
Inspiration Award (in honour of Janet Spencer) Winner: Fran Lomax, Sustain
“Fran has a positive attitude - if she wants to achieve something, she will work extremely hard to make the idea into a reality. Fran has wonderful ideas of how to support … our service users and also service users from organisations we work in partnership with, she is very good at inclusion, providing activities that enable people to be less isolated and feel a sense of purpose. Working alongside Fran is a breath of fresh air and she is an inspiration for all.”
Highly commended: Jodie Fox, Property Services and Helen Wilkes, MyGaff Leeds
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