On Saturday, March 1, 2008 two firefighters were proud recipients at the annual GIVE Awards Ceremony held at the Sherbourne Conference Center. Firefighters Roger Bourne and Carlos Bishop were the two members of the Fire Service to receive this distinguished award.

The programme GIVE (Great Attitudes, Initiative, Values and Excellence) is coordinated by the Ministry of Labour and the Civil Service, rewards public sector workers who exemplify the GIVE Standards -  dedication, hard work and proper attitudes. The programme seeks to promote service excellence in Barbados. The aim of GIVE is to improve the attitude and work ethic of Barbadian employees and to promote standards of appropriate behaviour in the workplace. It focuses on areas such as attendance/absenteeism, integrity, deportment, performance, communication and customer service.

To be eligible for an award, workers must display the attributes of punctuality, productivity, and good deportment. In addition, they must be cooperative, demonstrate a respect for authority, have good relations with staff and the public and strongly adhere to public sector procedures.

Congratulations to Roger and Carlos on their achievement. It is regrettable that this award was not publicized enough in our department.