Hertfordshire's got 'v' talent!
25/02/2010
Hertfordshire volunteers win Prime Minister's new award
Twelve young Hertfordshire people are among the first in the country to receive the Prime Minister's Award for National Civic Service.
The prestigious new award is aimed at young volunteers who have made an outstanding contribution through their work with children and young people. They took on a variety of placements ranging from nurseries and youth centres to youth crime prevention, asylum seeker support and substance misuse teams.
The groundbreaking pilot scheme called vtalent year was launched last year by v, the National Volunteers Service. Youth Connexions Hertfordshire is running the scheme in the county, with young people contributing approximately 30 hours a week for 44 weeks in children and young people's services.
The Hertfordshire volunteers aged between 16 and 25 were presented with their awards by Angela Smith, MP, Minister for the Third Sector, at a special graduation ceremony on Wednesday. They were among nearly 400 young people across the country to be recognised for giving up a total of 300,000 hours to help others in their community.
Shown here are six of the Hertfordshire award winners with Project Manager Leila Borgia and Project Co-ordinator Rebecca Birch
left to right are: Ashley,Priya, Leila Borgia (Project Manager),
Lee, Rebecca Birch (Project Co-ordinator), Danyell, Liam, Josh
Before starting the programme nearly 60 per cent of the first group of volunteers were not in education, employment or training. They came from all walks of life and included young parents, care leavers and graduates.
“With this volunteering experience and an accredited qualification under their belt, many of these enterprising young volunteers are already progressing to further training or employment,” said Richard Thake, Executive Member for Education and Skills. “Volunteering is a great way to gain new skills and experience, as well as supporting the local community. I wish these pioneering young volunteers every success in the future.”
Leila Borgia, Project Development Manager at Youth Connexions Hertfordshire said: “We’re really proud of our volunteers. There’s often bad stereotyping of young people but this is a fantastic example of young people making a real difference to their communities and helping to turn that perception around.”
The nationwide vtalent year programme, which operates in 32 Local Authority Children and Young People’s services, is also being piloted in local FE colleges across the country. It is part of v’s wider investments in full-time volunteering, which has already created 20,000 full time volunteering placements across England.