Hero award nomination for Rotherham community matron

Cerise Stubbings is one of seven nominees for a Daily Mail Health Hero award, following a joint nomination from two families who she has worked extensively with.

Cerise, associate community matron for the Rotherham NHS Foundation Trust, said the awards ceremony, to be held today (October 20), “one of the biggest achievements” of her career so far,

Cerise will receive her crystal award trophy from the Prime Minister, followed by dinner at the Gordon Ramsay private dining room in Mayfair, where the finalists and their guests will be entertained by comedy after dinner speaker, Dr Phil Hammond.

Cerise said: “I’m completely overwhelmed, it’s such an honour to have even been nominated, never mind making it to the final seven! I get emotional when I think about it and I’m very grateful to the families who nominated me.

I feel like this nomination is really for the whole team as I couldn’t do my job without the support of my wonderful colleagues. I love my job and, in my head, I’m already a winner. I’m really excited to get down to London but I’m a bit nervous about the whole thing!”

Cerise’s manager, community neurological matron, Joanne Roberts said: “The Neuro team are so pleased that our valued colleague, Cerise, is to receive such well-deserved and prestigious recognition. To reach the final seven in this nationwide award is an amazing achievement and testament to her commitment to patients and families.”

Although Cerise hasn’t seen her nomination, she is in contact with the families, with one of them still under her care. Speaking of her patient, Cerise says: “He’s not able to speak but gets so excited whenever we are discussing the awards, he has tears in his eyes, which just means the world to me.”

Michael Wright, deputy chief executive at the Rotherham NHS Foundation Trust, said: “It is always wonderful to see our colleagues recognised for their outstanding work. To make the final seven is a real credit to Cerise’s dedication to her patients and we are very proud to see her acknowledged in this way.”

Cerise is now in the running to win a luxury holiday up the value of £5000.