Peterborough Youth Service

Awards Celebration

I was excited to attend the Peterborough Youth Service Awards Celebration event after receiving an invitation. As I went up the stairs inside the grand town hall, I was greeted with many boards which had photo displays from numerous youth organisations/projects/events such as from PAYP and an invitation to take drink and mince pies from the table. There was also the opportunity to go into the Mayor’s Parlour where mulled wine was being served accompanied by a guitar group consisting of talented musicians from the Peterborough School of Music.

After taking my seat in the stunningly large room, I realised that the awards evening would be very lively, as there was a great noise volume of excitement in the room from both those receiving awards and those who were there to watch such a great award giving ceremony. After all the suspense, the youth awards finally started, and we were greeted by Rachel Rouncefield, head of the Youth Service who was hosting the awards and then an icebreaker from several youth workers, which involved singing ‘We Will Rock You’ whilst clapping and stamping our feet. After such a captivating start, the Deputy Mayor of Peterborough, Councillor David Thorpe introduced the awards evening.

The first performance was Fletton girls singing group who sang ‘Leave, get out’ by JoJo, which was sung very confidently, followed by the first presentation of awards. This was of people who have gained NVQ Level 1 & 2, of which there were many. There was a presentation of awards for Interface Youth Theatre, and then PAYP Fire Service Cadets. The cadets were accompanied on stage by a fireman, who gave a very good, informative talk about what these individuals have achieved and in general what being a cadet involves.

Next, there was a performance from the 3D Arts Group, who did an excellent drama conveying a powerful message about bullying involving racism. Then, musicians from the Peterborough School of Music were awarded their certificates for music exams. Awards were also presented to the Veterans Reunited Group and Hereward Youth Action. The next performance was from PAYP North Group, who did a great, powerful piece of drama and finished with a powerful song ‘Where is the love?’

Another presentation was of students from Ken Stimpson Youth Action, then Unity South, followed by the Active Involvement Awards, of which I received an award. Afterwards, Hereward Young Mentors were presented with their awards, and the Interface Youth Theatre did a part of their fantastic performance ‘A Brief History of Peterborough’, which they had done at Peterborough Cathedral recently and impressed the audience.

The final presentations were to PAYP North Group, Clare Lodge PAYP and other additional presentations. The wonderful evening was ended with very positive closing comments from Councillor Matthew Dalton. The evening had been very moving and great to celebrate the achievements of young people.