Charity worker honoured

Birmingham woman crowned UK Worker of the Year.

Katie Washbourne, 28, a homicide case worker from Tile Cross in Birmingham, has been crowned UK Worker of the Year 2015, winning £5,000 in holiday vouchers and a year’s free shopping at ASDA.

Katie attended Brands Hatch over the weekend, along with five other finalists vying to become UK Worker of the Year, a competition run by globally recognised workwear brand Dickies. It was Katie who impressed this year’s judging panel the most, piping railway engineer Paul Middleton to the prestigious title.

An overwhelmed Katie commented: “I can’t believe I’ve won. When I walked out of the judging room, I didn’t in my wildest dreams feel like I’d win the competition. It was a great weekend and I met some lovely people. I’d like to thank Dickies and the other competition sponsors for the prizes, and all the other finalists too. They were fantastic.”

Katie, along with performing her day-to-day duties as a homicide case worker, also works alongside the police for Victim Support, which deal with initial stages of murder cases and helping families to cope. Katie prides herself on putting others first, and providing the right emotional support for victims in the UK.

Maurice Morton, sales and marketing director at Dickies said: “Sitting on this year’s judging panel was one of the hardest things I’ve ever had to do. All six finalists were incredibly deserving of their position in this year’s final, but it was Katie who edged the judging process, and deserves every bit of recognition she gets.”

Katie had a choice between a £5,000 holiday and a Ninja Kawasaki 300 motorcycle, to accompany her year’s free shopping, courtesy of George at ASDA. Katie also had the chance to win £100,000 by predicting the top six outcome of the first MCE British Superbike race, but managed three out of six.

This year’s £2,000 runner up prize went to railway engineer Paul Middleton, with builder Rebecca Rowlands scooping £1,000 in holiday vouchers after finishing third.