Home and Hope: YMCA Derbyshire’s Annual Celebration Event
22 September 2016
Our celebration event is a chance for young learners, residents, staff and supporters to come together to celebrate the achievements of our young people and supporters from the past twelve months.
The Keith Lewis Memorial Awardwas given to Mai Cook who had completed her City and Guilds in Retail and Customer Service, actively volunteered, and been a hardworking student who is polite and supportive to others. The Sue Howard Memorial Award was given to Sandar Ali, who arrived in to the UK as an unaccompanied minor. It was initially decided that Sandar could not sit his GCSE’s due to his short time in Education. However due to his excellent progress he was able to sit his English, Maths and Science GCSE’s. Sandar has aims to become a police officer, in his words to “give back to a country which has given him so much”. The Alan Hart Memorial Awardwas given to the SOLID residents association. Who have demonstrated their commitment to changing the local community through volunteering activities. They are advocates of mental health, readily using their own personal experiences to highlight how through the support of YMCA Derbyshire their own health has significantly improved. The Recognition Award was given to Mandy-Jayne Evans from Toyota UK. Mandy-Jayne has been a great supporter of our YMCA for many years now, working directly with our young people to help and guide them towards employment. This year she also decided to take on the challenge of Sleep Easy (Sleeping rough for one night so others don’t have to). Through her determination she independently raised over £3000 for our Safe Front Door campaign. The Chief Executive Awardwas given to the Derbyshire Wildlife Trust. The positive activities and opportunities they have given our young residents this past twelve months has enabled many to complete a positive journey improving their quality of life along the way. The Tim Farqhaur Awardwas given to The Reverend Paul Taylor for his continued support and commitment to our cause. From move-on boxes to Christmas dinners and presents he works tirelessly within the local community to bring in donations to our Safe Front Door Campaign. TheChairman’s Awardwent to one of our young residents Daniel Bradshaw for his inspirational journey, from homelessness to training to be a paramedic. His determination and positive attitude has enabled him to become a considerate tenant, prepare to start a pre-access course at college, and secure a place with the NHS Ambulance Service. His caring nature for others means he also hopes to become a mentor for other young people.
After the awards had concluded one of our young residents Patrick bravely stood up and shared lyrics that he had written. A line that struck a chord with us here at YMCA Derbyshire was “I don’t feel no fear…this is my home“.
This was followed by one of our Board Members David Ayling who gave a poignant finish; “Lives have been changed, transformed, turned round, there is hope and life”.
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