Award for Sheila's long service

29 July 2010

Congratulations to Sheila Bryant, income management officer at Magna West Somerset HA, who has chalked up 40 years’ service.

Sheila, who is based at St Peter’s House, Williton, started her career at Blenheim Road in Minehead with the urban district council where she worked in reception on a rota basis and the typing pool.

She says: “I left school at 17. I was doing A-levels and then saw the job advertised in the paper.”

“When I first started, we had manual typewriters, wet photocopiers and all bulk printing was done through a stencil on the typewriter which was then run on a manual duplicating machine.  At the end of the working day every postage stamp used had to be  entered into a ledger with the recipients name and had to balance back to the float. I have seen a lot of changes.”

When West Somerset District Council was formed in 1974 as part of local government re-organisation, everyone had to apply for new jobs.

Sheila worked first in the rates department. All payments had to be entered onto individual property cards through a carbonated strip and had to balance to the cashiers daily sheets.  

Even the desktop adding machines were manual, having to pull the handle at the side to key it in. Sheila then moved into the rents department, using a manual gilberts ledger system and calculating housing benefit entitlement manually and applying it to the rent accounts.

“When I first started work the times were 9am to 5.36pm Monday to Friday.  This was because we had to work 37.5 hours per week.  These times had to be strictly adhered to.

“I remember once that myself and a colleague had sneaked down the stairs towards the front door when the then deputy clerk came out of the council chamber, looked at her watch and made us go back upstairs, only for us to turn round and come back down again when it was 5.36pm.

“The youngsters today don’t know how easy they have it these days!”

Sheila’s job now involves monitoring direct debts, dealing with service charge queries, invoices, former tenant arrears and general inquiries about rent.

“The vast majority of time I really enjoy the job, working with colleagues and being able to give customers the information they need. Sometimes it’s not always easy but you have to take the bad with the good. It’s nice to be able to help people.”

Sheila was presented with a long service certificate by Christine Boland, tenancy services manager. She plans to buy a picture by a local artist to mark the occasion.