New Year honour for Luton Council manager for supporting the vulnerable during pandemic

Council employee Cathy Legg’s outstanding dedication to the people of Luton – and particularly those most severely affected by the impact of Covid – has been recognised in the New Year's Honours.

Cathy received the British Empire Medal “for services to vulnerable residents, the community and the public sector".

While her substantive role is Customer Services Team Leader at Luton Council, for the last five months Cathy has been acting up as a Customer Services Operations and Delivery Manager, which has involved bringing people together from various parts of the council to react to the Covid crisis.

“There were people in different services who were really no longer able to do their normal jobs once lockdown started, so we were able to put together a really good team that has been able to do some brilliant work,” said Cathy. “I feel very lucky to have been part of it and delighted to have received the BEM, although I really feel that I’m accepting it on behalf of everyone involved.”

She has worked for the council for more than 40 years, and over the last decade has managed an Adult Social Care team within Customer Services dealing with some of the town’s most vulnerable people. The project helped to develop an ‘early help’ team that involves a range of professionals including social workers, clinical consultants, occupational therapists and a range of voluntary sector organisations.

Currently Cathy, who lives in Dunstable, is managing the Test and Trace team, this being among the challenges she has helped to meet during the pandemic, and it is a source of some pride that when Cathy’s team took over responsibility from the national body the success rate for Test and Trace in the area increased dramatically.

“It just demonstrated that local knowledge can be so important when dealing with things like this,” said Cathy. “It has helped us to do a lot of good work with colleagues in Public Health/Active Luton.”

Leader of Luton Council, Hazel Simmons, said: “We are very proud of Cathy and this is a truly well-deserved honour for her. Cathy’s attitude, drive, and commitment to supporting residents during this difficult time has won the praise and respect of colleagues across the organisation and the thanks and gratitude of members of the community.

“She has been integral in not only establishing key services during the pandemic but voluntarily giving up her own time to ensure the service was available to those who needed it, when they needed it. Cathy is a highly valued employee and has without question, categorically improved the quality of life for many residents within the town.”