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The Recognition of Excellence (RoE) Awards has been rewarding outstanding community pharmacy support staff for well over a decade and continues to shine a light on brilliance in the sector.
This year’s entries from every corner of the UK showed that the spirit of community pharmacy members has not let up – in fact, the tireless efforts have produced a standard so high that many of our judges felt it was the toughest year of judging yet.
Our 2025 cohort is a diverse group of hard-working, inspired members of their community with one thing in common: an obvious and infectious desire to better the wellbeing of their customers. From those who have been in the same store for decades to the newcomers just starting out, the calibre of entrants was extremely high.
You’ll have to wait until 13 June to find out who the winners are, but for now, read more about our categories, finalists, what our judges had to say and more about our guest speaker, Bonita Norris.
Health Equality Award
This award is designed to recognise an individual who has identified and tackled health inequalities for their patients and communities. This could include race, socioeconomics, age, sexuality and gender. Whether it be holding a coffee morning and organising walks for elderly populations, helping to bridge the gap between racial and ethnic minority groups and the wider community, finding solutions for those from poorer socioeconomic backgrounds, the homeless, refugee and asylum seekers, supporting members of the LGBTQI+ community, or providing menopause support.
- Adewunmi Adeyemi – Totty Pharmacy, London
- Debora Duarte – Newington Pharmacy, Scarborough, North Yorkshire
- Samantha Pugh – Park Lane Pharmacy, Wednesbury, West Midlands
Best Newcomer
To reward a promising individual who has started their pharmacy career in the last two years and is excelling in all aspects of their role, embracing training, grabbing opportunities and generally making an impact on their pharmacy and community.
- Azaliaa Adisa – Totty Pharmacy, London
- Bonnie Meurs – Paydens (Rusthall) Pharmacy, Tunbridge Wells
- Lauren Robbins – Cadbury Heath Pharmacy & Health Clinic, Bristol
Team Leader Award
To reward a senior support team member who has stepped up and is managing all or part of the pharmacy and successfully leading a team.
- Arunoday Lekkala – Victoria Pharmacy, London
- Fiona Eveleigh – Boots UK, Cricklade
- Katie Slinger – Paydens (Baxters) Pharmacy, Margate
Innovation Award
To reward someone who has taken steps to improve the pharmacy through innovative ideas, by introducing new technology or processes that make the running of the pharmacy more efficient to improve patients’ lives. This person takes the lead on EPS, automation or team training, has an interest in personal tech wearables and/or diagnostic machines that improve, monitor and support health or uses technology to overcome language barriers.
- Daniel Duarte – Newby Pharmacy, Scarborough, North Yorkshire
- Lewis Taylor – Wansford Pharmacy, Peterborough
- Lubna Rafeeque – Pearl Chemist, London
Product Adviser
To reward a member of the pharmacy team who excels in OTC product knowledge and demonstrates a clear commitment to their own self-development, learning and keeping up to date. The person must have excellent consultation skills and be highly adept at recognising symptoms, recommending the right products and referring appropriately.
- Helen Joscelyne – Tesco Pharmacy, Exmouth
- Kirsty Riddell – Paydens (Fenns) Pharmacy, Kent
- Raymond Lofters – Boots UK, London
Outstanding Contribution
To recognise someone who has demonstrated true dedication to community pharmacy and supported their customers and patients. This might include raising awareness of their pharmacy and promoting its services within the local community, or someone who has consistently provided outstanding service on a day-to-day basis and/or gone the extra mile to help a customer.
- Camilla Penfold – Boots UK, Ceredigion, Wales
- Leona Parkin – West End (Alphega) Pharmacy, Morecambe, Lancashire
- Lorraine Ferguson – Peak Pharmacy, Dronfield, Derbyshire
Sustainability Champion
To reward an individual who has taken steps to improve the sustainability of their pharmacy by joining sustainable schemes such as TerraCycle, Complete the Cycle, inhaler recycling or needle exchange programmes. Someone who encourages sustainability within the team by cutting down energy consumption in the pharmacy, has moved to greener modes of transport for prescription deliveries and/or researches sustainable products to stock and recommend to customers.
- Dove Gibson – Paydens (Hythe) Pharmacy, Kent
- Habiba Choudhury – Totty Pharmacy, London
Clinical Services Star
To reward someone who is supporting their community by spearheading new or popular specialist clinical services such as vaccinations, smoking cessation, weight management, sexual health, drug misuse or health screening.
- Fiona Downing – Pinhoe Pharmacy, Exeter
- Katherine Mathews – Everetts Pharmacy, Fareham, Hampshire
- Mollie Littlewood – Peak Pharmacy, Dronfield, Derbyshire
Pharmacy Team of the Year
To recognise a pharmacy team who excel in working together and supporting customers and patients with impressive teamwork, good organisation, productive workflows, shared values, joint learning and innovative ideas that have propelled their pharmacy to new levels of achievement.
- Boots UK – Londonderry, Northern Ireland
- Peak Pharmacy – Dronfield, Derbyshire
- Remedi Health – Winchester
Spotlight
Who will be named our overall winner for 2025?
Meet our guest speaker
After spending much of her life exploring the world’s highest mountains, Bonita Norris is now a highly sought-after motivational speaker and has delivered over 650 speeches in the past 14 years.
At 22, she became the youngest British woman to reach the top of Mount Everest at the time in 2010. She is only the third British woman to climb Mount Lhotse, the world’s fourth highest peak, and has been on expeditions to four of the world’s highest mountains, including K2. On top of this, Bonita has travelled to the North Pole and co-lead charity teams on expeditions to Kilimanjaro.
Bonita inspires audiences to take their own leap of faith, prompting each individual to reflect on their life goals and challenges, and how they can overcome obstacles in their path. Through a combination of humorous, inspirational and heartwarming anecdotes, Bonita thrills audiences with her stories of strength and grit. Her message of marginal gains, not giving in, and always keeping our minds open to new opportunities and challenges is relevant to us all, no matter our age or occupation.
Notes from the judging panel
“What a pleasure to read the entries and hear of the awesome work being undertaken by great pharmacy teams against a background of financial and workload challenges.” Mike Holden, managing director at MH Associates
“There are some really strong candidates this year and working through the nominees and the achievements has been really challenging.” Ifti Khan, pharmacy superintendent, Well
“There are some amazing pharmacy teams out there despite the myriad of challenges facing the sector. I think what this has done is show what can be achieved with the right team culture and mindset and a more forward-thinking approach.” Janice Perkins, chair of the RPS Community Pharmacy Expert Advisory Group
“I can confidently say that this is the best year yet in terms of the calibre of entries. It is a testament to the dedication and hard work of everyone in the community pharmacy sector, who tirelessly serve their local communities day in and day out.” Raj Nutan, healthcare strategy and services director, Alliance Healthcare & Alphega Pharmacy UK
“All of the nominations were of a really high standard, and it is so hard to choose between them all, as it felt like they were all very worthy of winning.” Michelle Riddalls OBE, CEO, PAGB
Join the conversation
All will be revealed across our socials from 13 June, keep up to date with us by searching #RoE25.
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