NOMINATIONS are open for the renowned Barry Wood Award for Outstanding Service 2024. The awards, a brainchild of the Denis Hurley Centre (DHC), will see recipients being honoured at this year’s AGM next weekend. Nominations are invited for two categories for the 2024 award ie, employee and volunteer.

Bishop Barry Wood, Auxiliary Bishop of Durban, was very much at home at the DHC.
“Since he so exemplified our values: genuine care for the poor, a hunger to challenge injustice, a collaborative approach to working across faith traditions, and a willingness to go the extra mile even at the risk of personal sacrifice. These were values which, in turn, he shared with Archbishop Hurley, his friend and fellow Oblate,” said Dr Raymond Perrier, director of DHC.

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“They are also values that we hope by which our staff and volunteers live. Therefore, following his death in 2017, the DHC Trustees launched a special award named after Bishop Barry to continue his association with the DHC. Each year, the award honours one staff member and one volunteer,” added Perrier.

The Outstanding Service awards are implemented in order to provide timely recognition of employees and volunteers for the significance of their contribution, he said, “We aim to recognise and promote positive behaviours that support individuals, groups and projects in achieving the DHC mission, vision and values and improve employee productivity and quality of work as well as reward excellence.”

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The candidates for the awards are nominated based on their display of values of the DHC, showing equal respect for all regardless of nationality, race, religion, gender, disability, sexual orientation or any other respect in which a person might feel marginalised.

“Anyone associated with the DHC — someone who works here as a staff member or volunteer, a partner, a service-user, a donor, a supporter — is invited to nominate one staff member and one volunteer using the nomination form.”

Previous award winners are exempt from nomination. Nominations will later be reviewed and assessed by a team of three comprising the director, the chief operating officer and two trustees.
Nomination forms are available on request via raymond@denishurleycentre.org until Monday, February 3, at 4pm.

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