Wakefield Age UK chief excecutive who received MBE says her team are the ones who deserve a medal
The chief executive of a Wakefield charity has praised her staff after being awarded the MBE in the New Year Honours.
Paula Bee has been with Wakefield Age UK for 18 years.
She said: "I’m absolutely thrilled. It was a wonderful surprise and I’m honoured to receive the award.
"It really isn’t about me, it’s been a team effort all the way through. The team that I work with both on the national agenda and here locally in Wakefield, and family and friends who have given me support over the years and enabled all this to happen – they’re the ones that deserve a medal.
"The volunteers work so hard to make things happen, they are a remarkable group of people.”
The charity works with people over the age of 50, often when they experience a crisis.
It takes around 10,000 referrals a year over 8,000 individuals and takes 20,000 calls.
Paula said people experienced crises through bereavement if they lost a partner, sibling or child, or during a health crisis.
She said for an older person it could be something as simple as losing a social contact when a neighbour moves away.
She said: “We help get them back to a place where they can function on their own again and manage life."
It costs £3m to run the organisation and has a team of 350 volunteers and 150 staff.
Paula said: “It means a huge amount to all of us. We have a massively committed and dedicated workforce who go out of their way to go the extra mile for individuals all the time.
"For all of us it’s about helping people to live their lives as fully as possible.
"We don’t look at people as if they’re in a state of weakness, what we recognise is we all need help from time to time.”
Age UK works with around 150 partner agencies across the district including in health and care sectors.
Caroline Abrahams, charity director at Age UK, says: “Paula’s honour is thoroughly deserved and we are thrilled she has been recognised in this way. She has given so much to older people in the area over the years and has made a big contribution to the wider Age UK family too. Our warmest congratulations to Paula and her team.”
For more information and the source, visit: Wakefield Age UK chief excecutive who received MBE says her team are the ones who deserve a medal