A TIRELESS public servant who has served the city’s vulnerable adults since the 1980s has been nominated for one of The Argus Community Stars’ most coveted awards.

Denise D’Souza, stepped down as Brighton and Hove City Council’s director of adult social services last month after a 30-year career.

Her ceaseless work to provide the best housing, support, advice and services the city could give her clients has earned her a nomination for the Public Service Award, sponsored by North Star, the Sussex motor dealers.

Councillor Ken Norman has worked with Denise for more than 10 years and spoke in admiring terms of her tenacity and commitment.

He said: “She is very highly rated as a person who knew her job and knew everything she was talking about or doing.”

“Denise knows her stuff.

“She is competent and she is a person who always recognised other people’s abilities and qualities.

“She was very good at leading her team in the council.

“All the staff I ever met loved working with her and for her and I found the same thing.

“She was very helpful to me when I was first given the job.

“I owe all I know about the adult social care and health in Brighton to her.

“And she is someone with a real passion for what she does and who she does it for, even when that means the job has to come first.

“She’s a loving mother and grandmother but she never only worked nine-to-five five days a week.

“Whatever had to be done, she did it and did it with a smile.”

Denise, 58, told The Argus: “My mum worked for social services when I was younger, that’s how I got started.”

She said that the chance to interact with great people and help them excel was what drove her through a fulfilling career spanning more than 30 years.

She said: “It’s the people – whether that be the staff or the clients.

“It’s about doing something that’s going to improve somebody’s life and making a difference to somebody.

“And for staff themselves, you see people develop, going from carers to social workers to managers.

“It’s about everybody meeting their full potential and allowing people to be the best they can – to reach their full potential whatever that might be.”

Denise, who stepped down in August, says she is looking forward to taking some time off.

She is particularly looking forward to spending time with her four children and seven grandchildren.

After that she will be looking to see what role she can play in Brighton’s dynamic charity sector.

Denise was initially employed by East Sussex County Council and she remained in Brighton when local government reorganisation changed the boundaries.

She has undertaken a range of senior manager posts in adult social care and also at director and board level in NHS services, both community based and mental health.

A widely respected corporate leader, she was praised for her skilful political touch in challenging times. She had to manage difficult spending decisions, as well as legal and structural changes and always did so with sensitivity and without losing sight of the needs of the vulnerable.

Last year the Public Services Award was dedicated to the Shoreham Airshow First Responders

Representatives of the emergency services and first responders who braved the horror of the disaster to help survivors and protect onlookers received a standing ovation from the audience as they recieved the honour at the theatre royal.

Sussex Police Chief Inspector Justin Burtenshaw, Worthing fire station manager Roy Barraclough and South East Coast Ambulance Service clinical operations manager Steve Andrews were there to collect the award.

They dedicated the award to their police, paramedics and fire and rescue counter parts dealing with the terrorist attacks in Paris which had happened the night before the ceremony on November 14.