Bishops’ College, Churchgate, Cheshunt, Hertfordshire. EN8 9XQ

Tel: (01992) 785589 e-mail:

PRESS RELEASE

Date: 15 March 2016 / Ref:3/postYA16

Contact: Jessica Palmer, Senior Communications Officer

Young people honoured at awards ceremony

The Spotlight, Friday 11 March 2016

Approximately 400 people gathered on the evening of Friday 11 March to celebrate the achievements of Broxbourne’s young people and those who provide services for them at the 2016 Broxbourne Youth Awards, held at the Spotlight in Hoddesdon.

Thirteen awards were presented at the ceremony, which was hosted by radio DJ, Steve Folland. These awards included Young Carer of the Year, Young Sports Personality of the Year, Young Volunteer of the Year and Young People’s Contribution to Culture. Those who provide services were recognised in the following categories: Youth Worker of the Year, Inspirational Teacher of the Year and Youth Project of the Year.

A variety of local dignitaries presented awards including Charles Walker MP, the Leader of Broxbourne Council (Councillor Mark Mills-Bishop), the Mayor of Broxbourne (Councillor Martin Greensmyth), Olympic table tennis star and sport agent Sky Andrew, captain of the Team GB Para-badminton Team, Gobi Ranganathan, and former World Cup winner and Tottenham Hotspur favourite Ossie Ardiles.

To add to the excitement of the evening, the presentations were interspersed with performances from local young people. The Phoenix Academy of Performing Arts, based at St Mary’s CE High School, opened the proceedings with two songs followed by performances from Sheredes School, local band Archiles and Lizzie Malessy (winner of the Contribution to Culture award). The evening culminated with a powerful performance from Cheshunt Dancing School, demonstrating why they won the Dance World Cup in Romania last year.

The final presentation of the night was the Lifetime Achievement award, which was given to Jane Carson, long-serving Head Teacher at Roselands Primary School and a key contributor to the development of music services for young people.

The Broxbourne Youth Awards were organised by the Council’s Community Development Team with support from the Broxbourne Youth Council. They were sponsored by Aldwyck Housing Association, B3Living and the Broxbourne-Sutera Twinning Association, all of whom made presentations on the night.

END

Notes to editors:

Winners as follows:

Young Person’s Achievement Award

Last year Holly Willmott was struggling with stress around her exams But rather than go through it alone she established a youth project for other young people like herself that were struggling with emotional wellbeing, stress and anger - a place where they could discuss their problems without being judged. Working with Youth Connexions, they founded the Fiesta project for young people with mental health and emotional wellbeing needs, which has been attended by over 40 young people.

Young Carer of the Year

Nazlican Dejirmensi is a 15 year old pupil at St Mary’s CE High School. She’s also the main carer for her mother who is in a wheelchair and has been diagnosed with breast cancer. Every day, she bathes her mother, dresses her, assists her in and out of the wheelchair, helps her to use the toilet, cooks for her, cleans the house and administers medication throughout the night. She also arranges and attends GP and hospital visits. Although Nazlican has older siblings, they have their own families which means that she is the only person at home with her mother overnight

Disability Youth Project of the Year

CHIPS stands for Children’s Integrated Playschemes and operates from Millbrook School in Cheshunt. Its Teens Club has run for approximately five years and meets once a month on a Saturday for teenagers with social, emotional and learning needs. Staff accompany the young people on outings to swimming, bowling and even London but encourage them to purchase their own tickets, place meal orders and manage their own money in order to learn vital life skills.

Youth Project of the Year

The BoxCleva initative has been run at Cheshunt Boxing Club in partnership with the Herts Fire and Rescue Service for over five years. It uses boxing to teach young people discipline, respect, healthy eating and the dangers of substance misuse, as well as providing an outlet for them to channel their anger and pent-up energy in order to reduce anti-social behavior in the community. Around 20 young people take part each week.

Young Person’s Contribution to Culture

Sixteen year old Lizzie Malessy has performed throughout the Borough and county, and was part of the 3Music competition which brought together young musicians from across Hertfordshire. She is a role model to younger musicians and loves performing locally.

Inspirational Teacher of the Year

Ryan Taylor who teaches at The John Warner School was described by pupils as a selfless, caring teacher who goes the extra mile to help students with personal issues. He frequently participates in extracurricular activities for charity. One student commented on his weekly football game with sixth formers stating that “He’s not the best at football but his passion and enthusiasm makes it enjoyable for others taking part”.

Youth Team Achievement of the Year

Cheshunt Dancing School entered the prestigious All England Dance competition, progressing through heats until they won the national finals at the Hackney Empire. This qualified them to represent England at the Dance World Cup in Romania. The six-girl team, representing four of the Borough’s schools, won gold medals in three disciplines and bronze in two others, securing them overall victory for the second year running.

Volunteer of the Year

Twelve year oldS Bobby Dyer and Harrison Featley have volunteered at the Cerebral Palsy football workshop set up by Broxbourne Borough FC who they play for. Every week, whatever the weather, they help coach the young people as they believe that football should be available to all.

Youth Worker of the Year

Vic Nickolds has been a youth information worker for Youth Connexions in Cheshunt for over 10 years and has provided support, information, guidance and advice to many hundreds of young people. He has a non-judgemental and open approach to sensitive issues affecting young people, including sexual health, which makes him very approachable. His background in the football industry has helped many young men. His colleagues value his knowledge, and his commitment to both young people and to his teammates ensures everyone’s needs are met.

Club of the Year

Hoddesdon Triathlon Club has grown from five members three years ago to a membership of 60, with a similar number on the waiting list. Many nominations commented on the inclusive nature of this volunteer-run club where the coaches and children support one another no matter where they finish in the competition, to foster a lifetime love of the sport. In recent months, they have added open water swimming sessions at the Lee Valley White Water Centre, cycling at Rye House Kart Track and a youth section for those aged 14 to 17 to transition them into the senior club.

Young Person’s Charity of the Year

CHEXS’ main priority is to enable children, young people, their families and the local community to improve their wellbeing through creating opportunities to raise aspirations strongly linked with realistic and achievable expectations. They are in a particularly unique position to engage with those who are reluctant to involve statutory agencies or are unsure of who to turn to. They offer a variety of initiatives including enrichment projects, life skills, road safety awareness, financial awareness, adult and family learning and young carers. Last year CHEXS’ supported 4,127 children and young people including 87 targeted young people.

Young Sports Personality of the Year

In the past year 17 year old netball player Georgina Fisher has represented England at Under-17, Under-19 and Under-21 level, playing in European championships at all levels and being on reserve for the full England team for their matches against Australia in January 2016. As a player for the Hertfordshire Mavericks, she is the youngest player in the Netball Super League. Georgina trains for 13 hours per week.

Fourteen year old Amber Hornbuckle had a truly amazing season in athletics last year, becoming national champion for Under-15 Girls in the 60m hurdles, placing her 11th in the all-time rankings. In the English Schools Combined Championships, she won the 75m hurdles with a time of 10.88 seconds, the third fastest of all time. She is also the current county champion for the long jump and won the 60m in the London Games.

Lifetime Achievement Award

Jane Carson is Head teacher at Roselands Primary School in Hoddesdon and has been at the school since soon after it opened. She has taught across all disciplines in the whole primary age range and believes in preserving traditions whilst being open to innovation and change. For example Roselands was one of the first primary schools in the county to be connected to the Internet. She represents local schools on the County Primary Heads Forum and in 2008 won a distinction in the Primary Head of the Year awards.

Jane has trained as a cycling instructor, swimming coach and a netball umpire but she is best known for her involvement in Hertfordshire’s musical life, making an enormous contribution wherever she has been involved.

She is a passionate champion of music-making in her own school over many years with a high number of musicians there as a direct result of her leadership.

She’s been involved in the East Herts Music Centre, chairing the Friends group as well as performing. She has also been the Primary Head representative on the Hertfordshire Music Service’s Governance Group - the Hertfordshire Music Forum. Her input and contribution has been significant.

James Dickinson who leads the Hertfordshire Music Service wrote “Everyone at the Hertfordshire Music Service is extremely grateful for all that she has done for us and the musical life of Hertfordshire. Her input and contribution has been significant and extremely fitting that it is being marked in this way.”

Attached: photos taken at the awards ceremony

https://goo.gl/photos/Yc89WKWok6uZdBcY6 - photos to be credited to Hertfordshire County Councillor Dave Hewitt