Street cleaner who goes 'above and beyond' honoured

Chris Patrick has been looking after the streets in York for seven years

A street cleaner who goes "above and beyond" to keep York city centre tidy has received a national award.

Chris Patrick, 60, has been York BID's cleaning team supervisor for seven years.

Rising early every morning from his home in Pontefract, he arrives in the city centre before the crowds, and cleans anything from pavements to seating areas and bins.

In recognition of his dedication to the job, Chris was named Best Ambassador at the 2025 Association of Town and City Management Awards.

"I was a chef before this, obviously indoors," he said.

"This is a lot better for me, this is what I like to do, be outside."

Chris is known on his team for having a cheerful demeanour and positive outlook, even when faced with the messy side of the job.

"What do we clean?" he laughed.

"Vomit and human muck and everything like that. The proper nasty stuff."

Chris credits his team for his award success

Carl Alsop, the operations manager at York BID, praised Chris for his attitude.

"There's not a hotel in York that wouldn't welcome Chris with a bacon sandwich - that's how far above and beyond he goes," he said.

"He just will not say no. He will find a solution and he will just roll up his sleeves, put his gloves on and he will tackle anything that needs tackling.

"That might be something very very disgusting or it might be trying his hand at gardening or painting or whatever it might be."

Chris said the commute to his job was not an issue because he "loved doing it".

"The people here are good, it's a great place to work," he said.

"I've enjoyed it so far so I'm going to keep coming until hopefully that enjoyment goes. But it won't go yet."

As well as receiving the national award at a ceremony last month, Chris is a finalist in the Great Neighbour category of BBC Radio York's Make a Difference Awards.

"When I get an award, it's for all these other people that do things here," he said.

"On rejuvenation, we've got volunteers and we sometimes have 40 people on a day painting York.

"It's amazing and I get an award for that, so really, it's for them."

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