First ever Young Greenwich Awards hosted by Charlton Athletic Community Trust

Young Greenwich, the name for the youth services across the Royal Borough of Greenwich, delivered by Charlton Athletic Community Trust, held its first ever Young Greenwich Awards.

The event took place at IKEA Greenwich, with the purpose of celebrating the young people’s achievements in the past year. The winners of the awards were a mixture of young people from Young Greenwich’s 4 main youth hubs, Woolwich Common, Valley Central, Avery Hill and Hawksmoor Youth Hub.

Charlton Athletic Community Trust (CACT) Director of Youth, Health & Inclusion, Charlie Macdonald said: “We really believe that youth work is the key to supporting our young people to achieve their best. I would like to thank the Royal Borough of Greenwich for supporting that.”

The awards celebrated young people in 4 categories, 2 which were nationally accredited and 2 which were exclusive to Young Greenwich. The categories were: Duke of Edinburgh’s Award (DofE), Jack Petchey Award,  Attendee of the Year, Volunteer of the Year.

Charlton Athletic defender Ben Purrington distributed the awards to the young people and the night also included music, food and refreshments. Attendees were present from all four hubs and it was a good opportunity to meet new people.

The night finished with a fantastic speech from one of the young people from Woolwich Common Youth Hub, Finley, who had received his DofE award. In his speech about his experiences and opportunities, he said: “There’s so much more to gain from the experiences as a whole. For me it was a gateway to other opportunities with the youth centre like going to France; it was the first time I had been and it was really enjoyable.”

VISION OF CHARLTON ATHLETIC COMMUNITY TRUST

The community programme at Charlton Athletic Football Club was initially started in 1992 by the current CEO of the Charlton Athletic Community Trust (CACT), Jason Morgan and officially became CACT  in 2003. Since it’s inception in 1992, the Community Trust has grown exponentially as an organisation with what initially started as an individual with some footballs and a van transcending into a recognised and trusted provider of socially innovative projects within their delivery area, with over 100 current members of staff and a pool of around 110 sessional coaches. The vision of the trust is; Early Help & Prevention, Health Improvement, Equality, Diversity & Inclusion, Social Action & Enterprise, Education, Football & Sports Development, Youth Service.