Rewarding evening!
We enjoyed something of a celebration last night as we gathered some of our young people together to celebrate their achievements at the end of another remarkable year.
Every year we nominate some of the young people who have accessed our services over the past twelve months to be considered for a Jack Petchey award. These award winners are young people who have gone above and beyond to achieve – perhaps when others thought they might fail. Awards mean different things to different people. The Jack Petchey Awards are not necessarily for academic achievement – they may be used to recognise a personal triumph for someone who has faced a challenge, a young person who has pushed themselves outside of their comfort zone or it may be an opportunity to recognise the outstanding efforts of a team player.
A young person is nominated by their peers. An important part of the scheme is the involvement of young people in selecting the award winners for their hard work and efforts. We want young people to recognise and celebrate the success of their peers.
An Achievement Award is something to be celebrated and every winner receives a medal, a certificate and pin badge. They also choose how to spend a £250 grant!
Last night, we had so many families attending the awards evening that we had to split it into two parts, but the theme remained the same as we celebrated the achievements of some of our club members at the end of a very challenging period. Not only did we have a number of young people to recognise, but we also had several awards held over from 2020, when the country was in lockdown. There were plenty of Sycamore staff at the event last night. Debbie was there to cheer on some of the members of the girls group and peer group, Lynn was on photography duty, Steve was the MC for the evening and no youth club event could be complete without Sue & Ted, handing out cake! We're also grateful to Sycamore trustee Vanessa Bennett, who was on hand to present the awards.
The first award went to Curtis (pictured above) from the Alpha youth club. At times he found the interaction and activities challenging but we have noticed positive changes within his interpersonal skills, he is a valued member and has formed good friendships within the group.
Theo's confidence has improved enormously over the last year. He studied hard through lockdown but also joined in the Sycamore Trust summer outdoor activities with enthusiasm, challenging himself to overcome anxieties and learn new skills .
Violet receives her award from Vanessa
When Violet joined the life skills group, she initially found it very difficult and needed lots of encouragement to participate in the group. Since then, she has settled down in the group and we have seen her flourish. She really enjoyed the photography sessions and contributed to the newsletter with a really good story about her camping experience.
Evie embraced the lockdown, using it as an opportunity to hone her writing skills, as a result she has written several excellent short stories, with fully developed characters and plots, which we have published on our website. She has shown enormous talent and great confidence, and we are looking forward to the next chapter!
We have seen huge changes in Ellis’s self-confidence and his enthusiasm when learning new skills since he joined the life skills project. During lockdown, he was using his new found culinary skills to cook meals for his family and he also sent photos of the food he cooked for our newsletter.
Ellis receives his award from Vanessa
Jordan (pictured below) joined the Autism Ambassadors in January 2019, he was particularly active from the end of 2019 into 2020 helping deliver interactive presentations to local organisations, schools and services, with the aim of helping to remove the barriers that prevent people with ASD from accessing social, education, leisure, employment and other local opportunities. We have seen Jordan's self confinence develop massively since being part of this project.
Alex attended the summer activities at Stubbers in both 2020 and 2021. He was an active member and tried all the activities, and although he found some of the activites physically challenging, he showed determination and resilience and we saw his confidence grow.
Louise has integrated well into both peer and the girls group, attending and participating in all activities, During lock down she has been an active user of all the social media groups. Emma attends the life skill course and interacts well with her peers.
Emma sometime found attending the group difficult, but overcame this barrier and when at the group she can always be relied on to help others. We have noticed positive changes in her self confidence levels, and she has made good friendships within the group.
Since Emily (pictured above) joined the Alpha Group she has become a valuable and dedicated member of the group. Initially quiet she has quickly become confident, fun and a good friend and always enthusiastic in facing every activity and challenge.
When Alfie joined the life skills group, he was very quiet at first and found mixing within the group challenging, but as his confidence has grown we have seen a massive improvement in his interaction skills. He gets involved with all activities presented to him and is willing to try new things.
Alfie pictured with Sue & Ted
Since joining Bravo group, Mahnoor has developed well in all social situations. She is very confident and willing to learn new skills and is eager to complete her life skill modules each week. She has also said that she really enjoys attending the Bravo Group as she has made new friends and finds it very interesting and really enjoys part taking in activities.
Peter's comunication skills have improved and he has a vast knowledge in a variety of subjects and will explain with patience to the younger members within the group to support them with their modules. He is a valuable member of the group.
Samuel has recently transitioned to adult services. This can be a huge challenge for an autistic person, however, he has embraced the new group and we have seen his confidence within the group grow.
Jamie, pictured with her award, alongside Sue & Debbie
Jaime has been a member of Girls group since the beginning, over the weeks we have seen her blossom. She is interacting with the other girls, and has a lovely sense of humour and enjoys a laugh and joke with us all. She has grown in confidence and will try any task. Jaime came along to Stubbers in the summer and was very nervous and apprehensive about taking part in many of the activities. Throughout the two days she attended, she overcame her anxieties and took part in all the activities and excelled in many of them. She engaged with her peers and staff and really seemed to enjoy with the whole experience.
Alex was a worthy recipient of a Jack Petchey award. At Stubbers, he overcame his initial shyness and reluctance to take part, and instead became an enthusiastic member of the group. He also demonstrated his creativity by entering the competition to design a Christmas card. Although he understood that there was the potential to be disappointed, he conquered his fear of failure and submitted the winning entry!
Vanessa presents Alex with his award
When Liam (pictured below) first joined Sycamore Trust he was a very quiet young man who seemed to find it difficult to interact with his peers, but we have seen a huge change in his social skills. He likes reading out part of the life skills modules, which he does very clearly, enabling the rest of the group to understand. His manners are impeccable making him a nice person to interact with. He is also very helpful and always among the first to help with end of session tasks.
The final award went to Opal, a member of our girls and peer group for over two years. She has grown in confidence, making many friends along the way. She has blossomed in the past year, overcoming issues with previous employers to now holding down a new full time job. On top of that, she has created a colouring book which she has published, been featured in the Romford Recorder and exhibited some of her art on public display in the Mercury Mall Romford!
All in all, an uplifting evening with some of our outstanding young people and their families. It was great to acknowledge and recognise each of them with a Jack Petchey Achievement Award and we look forward to helping each of them to maintain the high standards that they have set for themselves.
Opal with her award, alongside Steve