When Farrell Dewar, Acting Fife Council Services Lead Officer, Inverkeithing Local Office answers his phone at work he assumes that the caller lives somewhere in Fife. However a few months ago he took a call that proved to be somewhat further away that is New Zealand.
Shirley
Webb from Wellington New Zealand
Was trying to trace a member of her family who was buried in Cowdenbeath in 1929 and through the internet had got the number of Fife Council's Local Office in Inverkeithing.
Farrell said: "I was quite surprised when she told me where she was calling from. I quickly realised that to call her back with the information she needed would cost the Council a lot of money so I asked if I could send her the information by email.
"I contacted the Burial Officer at Dunfermline Crematorium and he sent me a map of the cemetery with the burial plot marked I then thought it would be nice if Mrs Webb could have a photograph of the headstone. I live near the cemetery so it wasn't really a problem for me to go and take a picture with my digital camera. I also wrote down all the names on the gravestone. I scanned everything into the computer and emailed it off.
"I got an email the next day thanking me for the information and all the trouble I had gone to. She said her son was travelling around the UK and was now going to come up to Cowdenbeath to see the grave for himself." "I don't really think I was doing anything out of the ordinary. It's my job."
Gordon Docherty,
Locality Manager, Inverkeithing -
Seamless Service
Said: "The Council aims to provide a seamless service for its clients. The Local Office is very much a one-stop shop where our clients can get information on the range of services provided by Fife Council. Here we have a member of staff who has put that policy into action. There are many officers like Farrell working throughout Fife Council, but what makes this particular level of service unique is the fact that the client was phoning from the other side of the world."