(L-R: Gabby Marai, Bloomfield Site Manager, Laura Whelan, Client Services Manager, Ian Huntley, Client Services Manager, Zahoor Ullaq, Royal Hospital Donnybrook Site Manager, Sharon McNally, Operations Manager, David Ferguson, Operations Director, Mary Patterson, Operations Director, James Mahon, Client Services Manager, Zach Corbett, Governance and Social Responsibility Officer, Verona Pentony, Head of Governance & Social Responsibility, Shahzad Sattar, Client Services Manager, Sinead Grogan, Healthcare Operations Manager).

Momentum Support has yet again swept to victory in the 2018 IASI awards and is delighted to have won the overall Healthcare Supreme Awards amongst eight other awards.

The annual Irish Accommodation Service Institute Awards (IASI) 2018 took place on the 27^th January 2018 in the Carlton Hotel, Blanchardstown, and the Momentum teams were awarded nine separate awards.

The awards are renowned in the industry as the gold-standard for Accommodation Services and the Momentum teams were delighted to have their great work recognised across a number of teams and  locations around Ireland.

First up, Paul Whelan’s team at the South Infirmary Victoria University Hospital in Cork won the overall Healthcare Supreme Awards as well as the Gold Category for the same location.

James Mahon’s team went on to win two Gold awards for LIT Thurles Sport and LIT Clonmel. In addition, to this the team received the Colleges Supreme Award for LIT Clonmel and came runner up in the Colleges Supreme Award with LIT Thurles Sport Lab.

Here’s a breakdown of all the awards Momentum teams won on the big night:

SUPREME AWARDS

Healthcare Supreme Awards 

1. South Infirmary Victoria University Hospital, Cork

Colleges Supreme Awards 

1. LIT Thurles Sports Lab

Runner up Colleges Supreme Awards

1. LIT Clonmel

GOLD CATEGORY – Teams that achieve 95.51% and above

Congratulations to the following teams which achieved Gold Awards:

1. St James Hospital, Dublin
2. Bloomfield Health Services
3. South Infirmary Victoria University Hospital, Cork
4. Tallaght Hospital
5. The Mater Misericordiae University Hospital, Dublin
6. LIT Thurles Sports Lab
7. LIT Clonmel

Silver Category – Teams that achieve 90.38%

Congratulations to the following team which achieved a Silver Award

Royal Hospital, Donnybrook

Bronze category – Teams that achieve 85% and above

Congratulations to the following team which achieved a Bronze Award:
Holywell Educate Together School, Swords

Momentum is delighted to yet again congratulate all teams on their hard work, dedication, and excellent achievements.

The Dublin Airport Authority (DAA) Carpark team has recently set up a ‘Go Beyond’ Partner Program which recognises excellent service from its key vendors and their staff working on behalf of DAA.

The first recipient of this award is Momentum Support’s Security Officer John Coffey, who has been working at DAA Carparks since June 2015. He received a €100 One-for-All Voucher from DAA, which was matched by Momentum Support.

John is on-site with the rest of his team to provide support to weary travellers searching for their cars after a long and sometimes arduous journey. Locating their car after their time away is one of the most common problems these travellers face, but sometimes they can find things have got worse, such as a dead battery, or flat tyre – the last thing you want to be dealing with at 2am in the morning after a flight.

John is available to help in these situations and has had multiple glowing emails sent to DAA for his excellent help and manner since he joined the team. Such as this from one happy customer:

“Tonight in the Red Carpark…I couldn’t find my car. After a few minutes of looking John from Security offered help and assisted us in an incredible way:

-He called to find out what zone were based on the time we parked

-Moreover, the key was out of battery so we had to manually find the car.

-He helped us open the car and showed us how to do it for future times.

John is absolutely amazing and has helped us go home quickly and with a smile. Incredible!!”

Manager Mark Conlan said this about John:

“John arrived around June 2015… He’s very diligent, very good work ethic, extremely punctual and always in control of what’s happening.”

John’s knowledge of the parking system means he’s indispensable to DAA – working out from when the customers parked their cars where they should be. In addition, he goes above and beyond helping the customers if they have additional problems.

Mark continued:

“What brought John to my attention when I started as manager of the Carpark were all the emails coming in from DAA and customers who had to tell somebody about the excellent care they had received…”

It’s thanks to these multiple  glowing emails and reports about John, that DAA awarded him the first ‘Go Beyond’ Partner Program Award. Momentum Support then matched the prize as a measure of their equal appreciation and support of Coffey.  

Congrats John!

“The Black Panthers” stand together for a group photo. From left to right – Emma McGrath, Tommy O’Dwyer, Rachel Ryan, Breda Meares, Mark Meares ( CBRE), Michelle Ryan, Michael Murphy (Site Manager), Paul McGrath, Siobhan McGrath – Assoc. Dir, HR Business Partner, MSD, Ballydine.

Staff at Momentum Support took part in a fitness event competing against other companies inspired by the television program “Operation Transformation,” similar to the American show “The Biggest Loser.” While the competition was independent of the weight loss television program itself, the goal was the same: to collectively be the fittest, healthiest team still standing. The company’s fitness event started on 4^th January 2016 and ended on 7^th February 2017. The team members, who called themselves “The Black Panthers,” were Emma McGrath, Tommy O’Dwyer, Rachel Ryan, Breda Meares, Mark Meares (CBRE), Michelle Ryan, Michael Murphy (site manager), Paul McGrath, and Associate Director Siobhan McGrath. After 8 weeks of following a strict daily fitness regimen, “The Black Panthers” won the competition!

“The Black Panthers” followed “Operation Transformation” fitness methods, meaning daily weigh-ins and weekly health discussions from dieticians and trainers about nutrition and exercise. The total amount lost was 43 kg and Tommy O’Dwyer lost the most at 1.5 stone.

The team members motivated each other every day, and the company provided support, serving specific “Operation Transformation” foods appropriate for their diet plan in the canteen, says Murphy. “Momentum staffers are a hardworking bunch, recently celebrating achievements like winning multiple awards at the IASI Awards. They put the same dedication into their fitness,” said Tommy O’Dwyer,“there is no I in team.”

Staff members who were not on the team also encouraged The Black Panthers to success. “These programmes can only have a positive effect,” said Site Manager Michael Murphy, who constantly saw the encouragement, “the team believes that it gave them a focus and determination to eat healthy and exercise more regularly.”

Participants in the Republic of Ireland and UK training sessions celebrating successful training completion.

Verona Pentony, Training QSHE Manager of the Momentum Support Group celebrated the successful completion of the conversion in cleaning standards from the British Institute of Cleaning Science COPC to the Cleaning Professionals Skills Suite 2.0 CPSS with different Momentum teams in Dublin, Belfast and London.

Many thanks are due to the teams’ and the trainers’ hard work & commitment during the transitional period as they succeeded in training all operatives on sites throughout the company.  It was a proud moment as trainers & assessors were presented with the first BIC SC CPSS and assessor cards.

At the Belfast training day Bridghe Grimes, Thomas Sweeney, Margaret McBride, John McCarron, Trevor Keith, Donna Sharp, Chrissie Cooke, Alison Walker, Verona Pentony & Patricia Mooney

“Working with the British Institute of Cleaning Science (BIC SC) allows Momentum Support to develop BIC SC accredited Trainers capable of delivering training in practical skills. These skills include mandatory units such as chemical competence, safe assembly and care of equipment, and storage of equipment and materials”, said Momentum Training QSHE Manager Verona Pentony. “It also includes a selection of basic/additional skills to suit the specific site requirements needed to work safely in the cleaning industry.”

Successful candidates were also presented with Certificates in FETAC Level 6 manual handling instruction, Momentum Support “Train the trainer” and risk assessment training.

At the IASI awards beaming with delight: Mary Patterson, Verona Pentony, Sinead Grogan, Tommy Gilsenan and David Ferguson with IASI president Innes Guerra

Momentum is once again extremely proud to announce success at the annual Irish Accommodation Services Institute (IASI) Award ceremony. Each entrant is exhaustively and independently assessed and only those that reach the high standards of the awards can win.

The IASI was set up in 1985 to promote best practice across the accommodation field. Their annual awards are one of the big calendar events in the Accommodation Industry, and once again all the hard work and dedication of Momentum staff have been recognized at the 2017 awards.

A win like this is not only achieved on the day of judging, nor is it achieved by one person. It is thanks to the combined efforts of the Momentum team that we continue to succeed each year at the awards.

As Napoleon Hill said “There is one quality which you must possess to win, and that is definiteness of purpose, the knowledge of what one wants, and a burning desire to possess it”.

Momentum collected a number of awards in all categories, Gold, Silver and Bronze – and big congratulations to the winning Momentum teams below.

Gold Category winners

Gold category winners are for teams that achieve 95.51% and above. Congratulations to the following winning teams:

• Laura Whelan and the Team at Mater Hospital for achieving Gold Standard, including achieving runner up in the Healthcare Supreme award. This is a wonderful achievement and the second time since commencement of the contract on the 1st May 2015.
• James Mahon and the Team LIT Thurles Sports Lab, including achieving runner up in the Schools & Colleges Supreme award
• Ian Hyland and the Team at St James Hospital, Dublin for achieving the Gold Standard Award
• Gabriella Merai and the Team at Bloomfield Hospital for achieving the Gold Standard Award

Silver Category winners

Silver category winners are for teams that achieve 90.38%.and above. Congratulations to the following winning teams:

• Paul Whelan and the Team in the South Infirmary Victoria University Hospital, Cork for achieving the Silver Standard Award
• Isabella Cheric and the Team at the Royal Hospital in Donnybrook
• Shahzad Sattar and the Team at Tallaght Hospital

Bronze Category winner

Bronze category winners are for teams that achieve 85% and above. Congratulations to the following winning team:

• James Mahon LIT Clonmel, Questium Centre

The IASI judge visited all site entries and undertook a complete audit including general condition, appearance of the environment, cleanliness, hand hygiene, waste management and patient equipment.

Well done to all those involved. This official recognition is well deserved and is a reflection of the expertise and hard work of all our team. Here’s to another fantastic year ahead.

Colin Maybin and Sinead Grogan from Momentum Support presenting cheque for €50,000 to St James’ GUIDe Clinic.

Colin Maybin and Sinead Grogan from Momentum Support were in attendance to present a cheque for €50,000 to St James’ GUIDe Clinic. As co-sponsors of the Liberties Fun Run held on 21^st July 2016, Momentum support were proud to support the work of the clinic and were delighted at the response to the event.

GUIDe Clinic is the largest free treatment centre for HIV & STIs in Ireland. Over 27,000 patients attended the outpatients clinic at the Genital Urinary Medicine and Infectious Diseases outpatients clinics at St. James’s Hospital in 2015. STI and STD infection in Ireland continue to rise and the work carried out by the GUIDe clinic is vital in this battle. Donations can be made at the www.supportstjames.ie website.

The Liberties Fun Run was, as always, part of the annual Liberties Festival. The Liberties Festival has been running since 1969 and won the LAMA national community and council awards 2016.

A mix of sports events, poetry readings, arts and drama, the festival reflects the history and cultural significance of The Liberties in Dublin City. A visit to the festival quickly shows the visitor the warmth and humor of the locals. Asking any local about this ancient area’s Viking heritage is one way to begin your exploration of the Liberties.

Momentum want to wish all the participants and organisers of the 2016 Fun Run and Liberties Festival very well done for all their hard work. Both were a great success and we look forward to seeing you all at the starting line next year!

To learn more about the St. James’ Hospital Foundation, the GUIDe Clinic, and future events, please visit www.supportstjames.ie.