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Posted: 18th December 2018

Progress & achievement!

Jack Petchey awards presented by Mayor of Barking & Dagenham

There was an important ceremony that took place on Friday night during a pause in the Christmas party.  Each year we celebrate the achievements and progress of some of our young people with the Jack Petchey Awards and on Friday we were delighted to welcome the Mayor of Barking & Dagenham, Cllr Sanchia Alasia who joined us to present the awards.

 

The first award went to Osvaldas Urbonas whose confidence has improved enormously this year.  He is a kind and friendly young man who participates in activities in both the club and the community and he also took responsibility when a new person joined the group, making sure he felt comfortable.

Another award winner was Francesca Cutri. Since she arrived in the Autism Hub in Romford looking for support, she has become a confident and active young lady, playing an enthusiastic part in our adult peer support group, our Autism Steering Group and the Sew Crafy girls group and she always supports the Trust at various events.

One of Frankie's colleagues on the Autism Steering Group was also recognised. Kai Wilkins has played a key role in 2018, particularly with regard to our input into the Local Authority Autism Strategy.

Another winner was Daniel Tumilty. When Daniel first started on the SPACE project he couldn't travel to us unaccompanied and would not use public transport on his own. Now, after several weeks of travel training Daniel attends all employment courses on his own, which is a great achievement.

One of the most popular winners was Oscar Taviani, a member of Matata Club, who we have watched grow into a confident young man. He is an active member of the Matata group and attended the outdoor pursuits week at Stubbers where he participated enthusiastically in all the activities, whilst encouraging his fellow team members and helping his team leader.

We also acknowledged the progress made by Toby Ojo, a member of the 18-25 group, whose confidence has improved to the extent that he now researches activities for the group to enjoy, and Dacian Iacob who has also made huge strides this year, after initially finding it difficult to interact with his fellow members.

Another winner was Paul Odeyemi , who has been attending our youth clubs since 2016.  Paul has made great progress throughout his time with us, with remarkable improvements in the way heinteraction with peers, and being more comfortable within the group.  We are really proud of the changes Paul has made.

Congratulations to all our winners and thanks as always to the wonderful Mayor of B&D, Cllr Sanchia Alasia, who is an enthusiastic supporter of the work that we do.