Northumbria NHS Trust porter honoured with posthumous award

A hard-working porter who lost a battle with cancer earlier this year has had an award named after him.
Mark Smith Business Development Manager at GV Healthcare (creators of MyPorter, right) and Damon Kent, Managing Director of NHFML - Northumbria Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust (left) present the Dennis Southern Award to Dennis' family.Mark Smith Business Development Manager at GV Healthcare (creators of MyPorter, right) and Damon Kent, Managing Director of NHFML - Northumbria Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust (left) present the Dennis Southern Award to Dennis' family.
Mark Smith Business Development Manager at GV Healthcare (creators of MyPorter, right) and Damon Kent, Managing Director of NHFML - Northumbria Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust (left) present the Dennis Southern Award to Dennis' family.

Dennis Southern worked for Northumbria Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust from 2007 to 2021 and was nominated for the 2020 MyPorter Award by Nicola Cartwright – area estates and facilities manager at the Trust.

He won the accolade but, unfortunately, it had to be awarded posthumously as Mr Southern passed away just two weeks before the nominations closed, leaving behind treasured friends, family, and colleagues.

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Mr Southern was such a valued employee, the competition judges decided it would be a fitting tribute to him if a new award was also created in his honour.

The Dennis Southern Award was therefore duly presented to his family and the shield is being displayed for its first full year by his wife at home.

For the next MyPorter Awards, organisers are hoping to host an awards ceremony and those close to Mr Southern will be invited to present the accolade named after him to its first ever winner.

Ms Cartwright said: “Dennis was an incredibly hard worker, he was part of the Northumbria family and embodied the values of the trust.

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"I nominated Dennis for the award because of his hard work and commitment, despite the personal challenges he faced outside of work.

"He was an absolute pleasure to be around, whether he was communicating with staff or patients, he was always so polite and kind. The fact that his legacy lives on through the MyPorter awards is a real nod towards the man, and porter, that he was.”