This is Cleaning Operative Rosa Quintana’s inspirational journey to claiming ‘cleaning operative of the year’ award
It’s been a good year for Rosa Quintana. A member of the University of Leeds’ cleaning team since 2017 and a professional photographer, her exhibition of portraits of her colleagues won widespread acclaim in May, and in June she was named Cleaning Operative of the Year by the British Association of Cleaning in Higher Education (BACHE).
The exhibition – ‘Unobstrusive Impact’ – showed striking images of cleaning staff working in buildings across the campus in 2021 to 2022. While many people were working from home, the cleaning team – alongside others in the University’s Facilities Directorate, including security and maintenance colleagues – kept the campus running, responding at short notice to changing guidelines.
“I wanted to show the quiet impact of the team, working in every building doing essential work,” says Rosa. “This felt particularly acute during the pandemic but we do important work every day.
“We cover morning, afternoon and evening shifts, seven days a week, and I wanted to put on record the different types of jobs we do, particularly as they relate to the different functions of the spaces we clean.
“Although in some of my photographs the architecture of the buildings and the locations dominate the image, the most important aspect is the person you can find if you look closely. These are the cleaners, who make our spaces clean, safe and more comfortable.”
About Rosa
Rosa started work at the University in 2017 as a part-time cleaning operative and since last year has been working full-time, combining early morning shifts with a daytime housekeeping role.
She moved to Leeds from Spain in 2017 with her son when he started studying at Leeds Beckett University.
As a photographer, she kept noticing opportunities for portraits, seeing her colleagues working against the backdrop of the many different types of architecture on the University’s campus. This felt particularly poignant when the campus was so quiet at the height of the pandemic.
“I also wanted to get to know my colleagues better,” says Rosa. “and I wanted to afford viewers of the photographs the opportunity to do the same. That is why I included detailed captions with many of the pictures.”
These captions tell of lives outside work: hobbies, hopes for the future, and previous jobs. One dreams of studying to be a nurse, others of owning their own business or teaching in the classrooms they are cleaning.
BACHE award
Jill Roberts, Head of Cleaning Services at the University of Leeds nominated Rosa for a BACHE award in response to the exhibition.
“Like all of my team, Rosa brings skill and commitment to her work and thoroughly deserved the award. “But the exhibition showed such initiative. I was so pleased when she came to me with the idea, highlighting the essential role of cleaning teams everywhere. “She explained to me that she wanted to shine a light on the sometimes ‘invisible’ and overlooked work of cleaners, especially considering how important cleaning roles had become during the pandemic and how they had to learn to work in different ways. “I supported her request and we worked with our Communications colleagues to ensure Rosa could carry out this project in line with University procedures as well as get some attention for it. “After getting permission for photographs to be taken from the cleaning team and University users Rosa embarked on her project, taking some photos during her working day but predominantly in her own time.”
The award acknowledges those who have performed their role to a high degree of professionalism throughout the year, and who may have shown initiative in contributing to the student experience and outside the normal requirements of their role.
