In Recognition of Excellence 2019

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Some children see their parents coming home worn out from work and vow to do something completely different with their lives, but not Sophie Burling

She has followed in the footsteps of her mother, grandmother and great-grandmother in pharmacy and is the third generation to work at Easter Pharmacy in Buckhurst Hill, Essex.

Sophie says it wasn’t a difficult decision: “Part of my personality is devoted to caring for others and contributing to their wellbeing.” Pharmacist manager Babatunde Sokoya put Sophie forward for the Rising Star Award, saying: “She has been a true breath of fresh air… I have never come across someone so conscientious and hardworking, she has a very mature head for someone so young.”

The dispensing assistant’s influence has transformed the business, with an almost tenfold increase in NHS flu vaccinations, and a travel health clinic that had never quite got up and running now going from strength to strength. Even finding prescriptions has been made easier, thanks to Sophie’s new colour-coded system.

The judges called Sophie “a huge talent” and bestowed upon her a highly commended, adding: “She is clearly a resourceful woman who we have not heard the last of.”