Croydon's Mary in Council Worker of the Year finals

The council's service development manager is one of 42 finalists battling it out for local government's most prestigious awards.

Mary Dalman impressed the judges with the work she carried out to develop a one-stop guide to bereavement services for Croydon residents. Recognising that many people were not sure how or where to get help with death and bereavement, Mary masterminded the development of a practical web-based information resource, bringing together all the available information in an easy-to-use reference chart to help both customers and organisations.

The information resource has since been adopted by other local authorities across the country.

Nominated in the innovation category, she fought off tough competition from hundreds of local council workers across the UK to reach the final.

But it's now over to the public to decide who will win a trophy and £250 prize money, and the council is calling on everyone from Croydon to get behind Mary and vote to give her the recognition she deserves.

You can vote for Mary via the website or you can text your vote for Mary by quoting ‘LGATV 1 Mary' and sending it to 80039. Voting will continue right up to noon on Thursday 3 July 2008. There is no limit to the number of votes that can be submitted.

Winners will be announced by BBC presenter Jeremy Vine at a gala dinner at this year's LGA annual conference in Bournemouth on 3 July.

Croydon Council's chief executive, Jon Rouse, said: "We are delighted but not surprised that Mary has made the Council Worker of the Year finals. Her personal commitment to improving access to information for everyone in the borough and the scale of her research, coordination and unstinting attention to detail is to be commended. I hope everyone votes for Mary as she would be a well-deserving winner."

Council and democracy