Thank you! Celebrating staff compliments

Individuals, teams and departments across the council regularly receive compliments from residents, visitors, staff and businesses. Here's a selection:

Comment from supplier: Road Services and Planning. We work across various council authorities and subsequently numerus colleagues in planning and roads. You and your colleagues will not appreciate, or possibly even be aware of this, but as a group you are second to none in terms of communication and willingness to attend meetings to keep the projects moving forward. Makes my role so much easier and is hugely appreciated. 

Local resident: Corporate Communications. I wanted to give feedback on the Be Nice campaign. Absolutely brilliant! When you see signs about abuse in Dr's surgeries, garages etc they come across as hostile. But the human touch and, indeed, nice notice at the end of your email would resonate much more, in my opinion. Well done East Lothian Council! Please pass this on. Thank you.

Local resident: Waste Services. Ricky at Wallyford recycling area was wonderful! We needed to dispose of some windows and could not do so in Dunbar. I rang the council who gave me Ricky’s number. He was a delight, cheerful and helpful. When we arrived today he guided us to the best parking spot and then worked with is to unload the items. A true gentleman and I hope you treasure him!

Local resident: Libraries and customer services. My wife and I had very positive and helpful support today from Dr Hanita Ritchie today. Thanks to her for digging into the history of old buildings at North Berwick. She left no stone unturned and has given us several pointers towards achieving our goal of finding facts. We are grateful for such a service in our county.

Local resident: Registration services. We just wanted to say a huge thank you for our marriage ceremony on Saturday 19th July 2025. It was very straight forward, and Jim made us feel at ease and made the whole experience very memorable and special. Please pass on our thanks to Jim. We also wanted to say that the room is simple but beautiful. it was just amazing.

Donna and Jen organise Brownies Disney trip

East Lothian’s Brownies are preparing to travel internationally for the first time with a trip to Disneyland Paris in 2026.

Homelessness team colleagues Donna Gibson (pictured right) and Jen Gentle are both Brownie Leaders; Donna joined Brownies aged 7 and, as she explains “never left!”. After progressing through Guides and returning to the same unit as a Young Leader, she started her qualifications and started as a Leader 24 years ago.

Making dreams a reality 

The Disneyland trip was originally to take place in October 2020 but cancelled due to Covid. Now, Donna and Jen are more determined than ever to make this dream trip a reality. The trip brings together Brownies from across East Lothian’s units with 28 children due to attend and fundraising has begun in earnest.

“Our trip to Disneyland Paris will encourage the Brownies to step outside their comfort zone, gain confidence and make new friends. It’s an amazing opportunity for the girls to experience international travel something they may never get the chance to do themselves,” says Donna.

Fundraising to support families

Although families are paying towards the trip, Donna is keen to raise as much money as possible through fundraising events to reduce the financial impact, recognising the challenges that some families face. “Many of the Brownies on the trip are from deprived areas and will never be able to have an experience like this outwith Girlguiding,” she says. “They’ll not only have great fun but also learn about a different culture, try new experiences and make memories that will last a lifetime.”

Jen (pictured right) is also currently running a ‘Guess the Bear’s birthday’ competition to win a cuddly Stitch toy from the Disney movie Lilo and Stitch. Stitch is suitable for age 0 onwards so could be regifted to a baby or toddler. If you would like a guess, contact Jennifer Gentle - each date costs £2.

Brownies units meet across East Lothian welcoming girls aged between 7 and 10 years old. It provides a safe and inclusive environment for girls to build confidence, develop leadership skills and explore new interests through a variety of activities and challenges.

Get involved!

To find out more about the trip or want to hear about forthcoming fundraising events, please contact Donna Gibson.

Donate to Donna and Jen’s JustGiving page now

Team manager honoured for "exceptional" career

A team manager in Protective Services Trading has been honoured by her peers for her “exceptional” career.

Alexandra Connell was recognised with a fellowship of the Chartered Trading Standards Institute (CTSI) at its recent conference.

Alexandra, who is the Team Manager for Business Compliance (Trading & Licensing Standards), has been a member of the Institute for nearly two decades.

Exceptional contribution

Fellowships are only awarded to members of at least ten years standing who have made an original and exceptional contribution to trading standards, and/or have rendered outstanding and distinguished services to the objectives that the Institute serves.

Alexandra’s award citation praised her “passion” and “commitment”, adding: “She leads, motivates and walks the talk, forever looking to do more and always wanting improvement.”

Since earning an HND in Consumer Studies in 1987 from The Queen’s College, Glasgow – now part of Glasgow Caledonian University – Alexandra went on to notch up a string of professional qualifications and then joined the Institute's Qualifications Awards Board in 2014, becoming Lead Officer for Education & Training in 2019.

Her past roles include working as a Consumer Adviser with the Central Regional Council in Falkirk in the early 1990s and a Trading Standards Officer in Lincolnshire while living in England with husband Alastair and their two daughters.

Alexandra joined the Institute’s East Midlands Branch in 2006. Qualifying as a Trading Standards Officer, she later served as the branch chair.

'Extremely honoured'

After returning to Scotland in 2019, Alexandra joined East Lothian Council as a Trading Standards Manager and was elected chair of the Society of Chief Officers of Trading Standards in Scotland (SCOTSS) in 2024. 

Alexandra said: “I was extremely honoured to be awarded fellowship of the CTSI at our annual conference. I’m incredibly humbled that colleagues feel that I am worthy of this and believe I’ve made significant contributions to the profession.”

Congratulations!

Lesley's update

From Lesley Brown, Executive Director

As the summer holidays come to a close, I’d like to take a moment to reflect on some of the key developments over the past few months. I hope you’ve had the chance to enjoy some rest and relaxation. I was fortunate to take a break in June and enjoyed a wonderful cruise - an opportunity to recharge and return with fresh energy for the months ahead.

Over the summer, I had the pleasure of visiting our Contact Centre. It was a valuable experience to see first-hand how our staff manage incoming calls from the public. I was genuinely impressed by the professionalism, knowledge and empathy shown by the team. Their ability to listen carefully and respond thoughtfully to a wide range of queries is a testament to the quality of service we provide and the dedication of our staff.

I know many of our services have remained busy throughout the summer. I’d like to extend particular thanks to our teams in Children’s Services and Housing, who work directly with some of the most vulnerable people in our communities. These services often see little downtime, and I’m deeply grateful for the care and commitment shown by everyone involved.

As we turn our attention to the new school year, we’re especially excited to welcome learners to the newly built Blindwells and Craighall Primary Schools. These schools represent a significant investment in our communities and a commitment to providing high-quality learning environments. A huge thank you to everyone who helped bring these projects to life.

We’ve also received very positive exam results this summer, reflecting the hard work and resilience of our learners, and the unwavering support from school staff, leaders, and families. Thank you all for your continued commitment to excellence in education.

Looking ahead, we’re continuing to strengthen our Leadership Development programme across the organisation. This includes launching another cohort of our Aspiring Senior Leaders programme, which supports staff in building the skills and confidence needed to take on senior roles. Strong leadership at every level is vital to our success, and I’m excited to see this work continue to grow.

Finally, I’m looking forward to reconnecting with teams across Education, Children’s Services, Communities and Housing in the coming months. Your work makes a real difference every day, and I’m grateful for your ongoing dedication and care.

Thank you again for all that you do. Together, let’s build on our successes and continue making a meaningful difference in the lives of the people we serve.

Warm regards,
Lesley

Contact Centre's Cath retires after 48 years

Preparing to retire on 29 August after 48 years with the council feels “surreal”, admits Contact Centre Supervisor Cath Cummings.  

Cath started with the then East Lothian District Council in August 1977 straight from Ross High School on a youth opportunity programme. Originally based within the planning department and attending college on a day release scheme, after six months she secured a permanent role in property maintenance. She remained with the service for 28 years, inadvertently paving the way to her current role in the Contact Centre.

“I was based in Brewery Park dealing with invoices when I first started in property maintenance,” explains Cath. “All the invoices would come over from the stores department then I would process them and take them over to finance. We took turns on reception desk dealing with suppliers when they came in, and then I started doing the tradesmen's timesheets, manually processing them and passing them to finance before answering any queries.”

Improving customers' experiences

Cath’s first steps into what has become the council’s contact centre began in a temporary unit in Macmerry dealing with housing repairs calls. The potential to develop the service more widely became clear and it has since grown into one of our primary channels of customer communication. Over 50 people work in the contact centre at Penston House, handling more than 500,000 calls  every year including our community alarm service which offers vital support for vulnerable residents in their own homes.

“It’s funny as I was trained on the switchboard when I first joined the council at 17. It had wires that you had to plug and unplug to direct calls. It sounds like it was 100 years ago but it wasn’t!,” laughs Cath. Eventually the switchboard function also moved from Haddington to the contact centre and the team continues to find new ways to improve customers’ experiences, most recently launching an online chat function on the website.

“There’s always something new to learn at the contact centre,” says Cath. “I get excited with any new systems that we introduce. Anything that improves customer interaction or customer service: that makes our customers’ lives easier. I loved speaking to my customers on the phone and really missed that.”

"I'm going to miss it all"

As someone who thrives on being busy, Cath admits that retirement is going to be a change but it’s something she’s ready to embrace. With a close-knit family, including her daughter Kendal  and granddaughter Mae, and plans to join a health club, there’s no doubt that she will quickly find a new routine. However she is going to miss the role, her colleagues and contact centre teams. “I like being busy and there's nowhere else in the council that I would have wanted to work,” she says.

“I've done customer services all my life and I love it. You’ll never be bored! The thing I’ve liked about the contact centre is that there’s so much change and we learn something new every day. It’s a great place to work with a really good team – the staff do an amazing job. I’m going to miss it all.”