#OurVince

Vince Cole is a Workshop Supervisor here at NFDC. Put simply, he tells us, this means he supervises a team of mechanics who are responsible for making sure all the council's vehicles and equipment is in a safe and roadworthy condition. It is a legal requirement for them to inspect the HGVs every six weeks, to make sure that 26 tonnes of vehicle are safe to be out on the roads. 

Refuse trucks, tractors, large and small vans, lawn mowers, chainsaws, strimmers and hedge cutters, they repair them all.

His biggest challenge at work has been helping to bring his department up to date and to be more productive. "I've been assisting the Transport Manager with the modernisation of the workshop and transport software. I'm excited to soon be buying new vehicles and using the new transport software package."

Vince has been with NFDC for the last 20 years (this time, he was with us for another four years before that).  Although he enjoys getting out of the office and getting to use his spanners, for him the job isn't just about the machines, it's about the people. "My favourite part of the job is the comradeship between different departments I work with."

Vince is one of our mental health first aiders, "I like to help people, and the Mental Health First Aid training has given me the resources to be able to help if the need arises. There are a number of NFDC mental health first aiders available for employees to talk to, so if you would like advice there's a whole team of people here to help, whether you want someone you know or would prefer someone you don't."

He's also a first aider and fire warden, and has just completed a coaching and mentoring course.  He told us, "I'm so proud when I see apprentices that I have helped train, further their careers. Some of them have gone on to be workshop supervisors or managers themselves."

In his spare time Vince tells us, "I like walking with my wife and white German Shepherd dog. I love that in the New Forest district I am close to both the forest and the beach.

"I have 20 year old and 16 year old sons who we adopted when they were both 9 months old. Sam has mild Asperger's and is very quiet and polite whilst Harry has ADHD, he is extremely adventurous and lives his life at 1000mph. Both are fantastic kids, but also challenging in their own ways."

Vince's random fact* he tells us "I am related to the first ever recorded streaker in history, Rebecca De Bokka De Boy'd, who was a French lady who escaped from an asylum and jumped from London bridge naked."

*Disclaimer - he has found no actual evidence to back up this family story.

But he can say for definite that he speaks a moderate amount of Turkish.

We believe you Vince.