A WOMAN who is called on at any hour of the day to support grieving or injured people was among those honoured at a prestigious awards ceremony for fire service staff.

The Hereford and Worcester Fire and Rescue Service (HWFRS) honoured Sonja Sinclair-Elechi, a member of its critical incident support team, and other staff and partners.

Mrs Sinclair-Elechi, who works in the HR department at the headquarters in Worcester, offers support to those affected by incidents involving loss of life, serious trauma or injury to children.

She was described as always having everyone’s welfare and happiness at heart and went out of her way to assist, whatever the issue or concern being faced.

The inaugural Excellence Awards were held in Eastnor Castle’s great hall.

The fund-raising endeavours of station commander Martin Lown, based at HWFRS’s training centre in Droitwich, saw him pick up the Firefighters Charity Fundraiser of the Year award.

Mr Lown climbed Kilimanjaro wearing fire kit and breathing apparatus, raising more than £5,000 and has just returned from an equally daunting Everest Base Camp climb, again completed in full fire kit, which has already raised more than £3,800.

Long serving firefighter Andrew Davies, from Malvern, was given the Excellence Award for Operational Staff, while watch commander Bob Morris from Redditch walked away with an award for community excellence.

Other winners included Dr John Hall, who won a partnership excellence award, Hereford printing business 2017 Ltd for allowing its employees the flexibility to join the retained crew, and watch commander John Chance from Ewyas Harold who picked up the award for leadership.

Firefighter Hannah Densley, based at Hereford, was presented the Excellence Award for Sporting Achievement by Jake Abbott from Worcester Warriors.

Chief fire officer Mark Yates said: “We have some truly remarkable people working for or in partnership with Hereford and Worcester Fire and Rescue Service, and the Excellence Awards have been devised to celebrate their outstanding efforts and amazing achievements, some of which have continued over a period of many years.

“We wanted to create a night to remember, an experience to inspire others in the organisation, and I’m sure this first Excellence Awards evening will have done just that.”