STAFF and volunteers at Airedale NHS Foundation Trust have won recognition for their efforts during the past year.

Fourteen Pride of Airedale awards have been presented.

Members of the judging panels and executive team visited winners in their workplaces to announce the recipients' success and present the accolades.

The awards were open to people from across the trust and AGH Solutions, its wholly-owned subsidiary.

Foluke Ajayi, chief executive of Airedale NHS Foundation Trust, said it had been "a privilege" to take part in the presentations and she paid tribute to all the nominees.

She said: "More than 295 nominations were submitted this year and although the judging panels had the difficult task of narrowing it down to just 14 winners, every nominee should be immensely proud that their hard work over the past 12 months has been recognised by their colleagues.

"Seeing the high calibre of nominations makes me incredibly proud and humbled to be a part of this organisation."

Winners were: Airedale Partnership Award – the collaborative care teams; Colleague of the Year (AGH Solutions) – Sam Barlow, garden supervisor; Colleague of the Year (clinical) – Elizabeth Golden, practice educator, international recruits; Colleague of the Year (non-clinical) – Zoe Melsome-Smith, apprentice management accountant; Leader of the Year – Sharon Golson, ward manager (Ward 20); Meeting the Needs Award – Freya Sledding, interim chief allied health professional; Quality Improvement Award – Liz Baker and the breast team; Quality Award for Outstanding Patient Experience – Nathaniel Davies, apprentice health care support worker; Team of the Year (AGH Solutions) – the catering department; Team of the Year (clinical) – the emergency department; Team of the Year (non-clinical) – trauma and orthopaedic secretaries and admin team; Trainee of the Year – Christopher Berry, physiotherapy apprentice; Unsung Hero – Misbah Ahmed, physiotherapist; Volunteer of the Year – Grace Detouef, Sunbeam Support Group volunteer.

Charlotte Echevarria – sister in the emergency department, which won the Team of the Year (clinical) accolade – says: "We really appreciate that our hard work has been noticed by colleagues and winning the award has been a great end to the year."

The AGH Solutions catering department, which also picked up a Team of the Year honour, serves over 900 meals to patients and more than 200 to colleagues every day.

Head of patient meal services Gareth Williams, from Haworth, said the award was "a great achievement" for the team.