Uni honour for long serving cleaner's polished career

Local Link Up - Contentys Ltd A long serving cleaner has been given a special award in recognition of a polished career at Kingston University. Sean Byrne, who also works as a bin man, was given the award at a presentation ceremony to mark 45 years of service – held at the Kingston Hill campus in January. The 61-year-old was chosen for the award after being singled out for his efforts to keep the campuses spick and span. Mr Byrne, who lives on the Kingsnympton Estate in Coombe, said he found cleaning therapeutic. He said: "It's definitely relaxing in comparison to being out on the bins in all weathers. "You meet all kinds of different people including fellow staff, lecturers and students. "Everyone is just so lovely – they all take the time to talk to you and make you feel part of the university family. "The lecturers are wonderful people and have always appreciated me. Just arriving at Kingston Hill lifts my spirits." Mr Byrne said cleaning at the university was very different to when he first started work at the age of 16. He said: "We didn't even have a uniform; we just had to wear our own clothes. "Now, with our uniforms and name badges we look a lot smarter and we feel like we are doing a proper professional job." Mr Byrne was also celebrating the completion of the first stage of a British Institute of Cleaning Science (BICSc) training programme, as part of the university's vocational training scheme. Vice-Chancellor Professor Julius Weinberg said: "It is extremely important our support staff, no matter what they do, have chances to undertake training, learn new skills and develop. "We are a university. We celebrate learning." Local Link Up - Contentys Ltd Trade News selected by Local Linkup on 11/02/2012