The Cutlers - The Company Today

Awards, 2008-2009

JOINT EDUCATION AWARDS 2009

The Fifty Second Annual Awards were presented at the Cutlers’ Hall on Tuesday 31 March 2009, at which the Master Cutler presided and spoke.  The Master of The Worshipful Company of Armourers & Brasiers, J S Haw Esq, also spoke and presented the following individuals with their respective awards:

These Awards are funded by grants from The Company of Cutlers in Hallamshire and The Worshipful Company of Armourers & Brasiers and the winners were selected in early February by an interview panel chaired by Mr J C Bramah and assisted by Mr A Pontifex and Mr J A Tear.

SOUTH YORKSHIRE POLICE AWARDS

The Sixteenth Annual Awards made by the Company to recognise exemplary service were presented at The Cutlers’ Hall on Friday 24 July 2009 by the Master Cutler, and included a generous donation of  £750 from The James Neill Trust Fund to the Bluebell Wood Children’s Hospice, the chosen charity of this year’s Group Winner, which was presented by Sir Hugh and Lady Neill.

The Group Award goes to the twelve officers in the Firearms Support Group who make up Operation Octave, a determined attempt to bring home to young people the core message that the carrying of guns and knives can mean the taking of lives. In the last year, the group has delivered a special interactive presentation to 18,000 teenagers, with almost all the region’s 76 schools now covered.

The Individual Award goes to Police Sergeant Wayne Goodwin for what has been described as “outstanding” service work in the Doncaster area. He led the establishment of a community team in the Armthorpe area - where people had felt undervalued through a lack of commitment by the police. Despite a lack of finance - he helped raise cash for the project himself - he slowly won the support of parish and town councils in the area to set up a Safer Neighbourhood team based in a local school. The team then set about tackling such issues as drink driving, criminal damage, underage street drinking and various other forms of anti-social behaviour. How successful they have been can be gauged by an “Outstanding Contribution” award from the Neighbourhood Watch at county level.
The systems put in place by Sgt Goodwin are now considered “best practice”  throughout the area and are being introduced to other communities.

In presenting the awards the Master Cutler said that as an historic Company representing the traditional manufacturing industries of the Hallamshire region, our major concern may be the good health of business. But this needs, among other things, a stable community where a firm grip is kept on crime. Too often, crime is associated with inner city areas, but it can affect the economic health and morale of anywhere - towns, villages - even quiet rural communities. To keep on top of crime, police attention needs to be everywhere: this is why the Cutlers' Company is delighted to single out and reward some of the excellent examples of community policing in this region.

GOLD MEDAL FOR EXCELLENCE IN MANUFACTURING

The Company of Cutlers’ Gold  Medal for Excellence in Manufacturing is made annually to one individual who is deemed to have made an outstanding contribution to the furtherance of manufacturing excellence in Hallamshire. The Award is judged based on a range of parameters including corporate growth, technological innovation and management excellence.

The Award is a nine carat gold medal suspended on a neck ribbon in Company colours.  The medal, made by the Royal Mint under the direction of Thessco Limited and hallmarked by the Sheffield Assay Office, is stamped with the Company Crest on one side and engraved with the recipient’s name and date on the obverse.

The Gold Medal for 2009 has been awarded to J T S Hayward, Managing Director of Chesterfield Special Cylinders Limited.

It was presented to Mr Hayward, who is a Freeman of the Company, at the Forfeit Feast by The Right Honourable Alderman Ian Luder, Lord Mayor of the City of London.