YMCA NORFOLK

YMCA Norfolk celebrated the achievements of the young people and families it supports at its annual fun evening of celebration at the Open in Norwich last night.

Norwich City footballer Christoph Zimmerman, Sheriff of Norwich Ros Brown and General the Lord Richard Dannatt were there to help it celebrate along with scores of supporters, staff, volunteers and clients.

YMCA Norfolk CEO Tim Sweeting said: “Our aim tonight is to celebrate the young people and families we get to serve – their talents, their development and their achievements over the last year.

“Those of us who have the privilege of being staff and volunteers get to see this every day and tonight is a window into some incredible journeys of change and development.

“It is important to remember though that there are so many for whom barriers are placed in the way of their potential. It is a sad fact that in Norfolk the quality of a young person’s start in life still too often determines their future – this is not acceptable. In too many cases help is only provided when crisis occurs. That is why we have sought to focus more and more on preventing crisis from occurring in the first place.

“This year, in addition to targeted support to help 66 families stay together and the 458 young people we housed, we also worked on the issues that young people have told us led to crisis for them.

“We trained 650 young people in mental health awareness, 470 engaged in positive activities at our youth clubs, we helped nearly 200 into employment, education or training and engaged thousands on the streets of King’s Lynn through our SOS bus,” said Tim.

Christoph Zimmerman and Lord Richard Dannatt then presented awards to a number of winners.

The Healthy Living Award went to Brandon Laxton who was praised for his cooking skills which he helped to teach others as well.

Young Volunteer of the Year went to Jasmine Mickleburgh who helped lead campaigns including one for Better Living.

Tenant of the Year was Amy Morris who was described as a model tenant.

Young achiever of the Year was Jamie Copping who moved to independent living and was an inspiration to other residents.

The Inspiration Award went to Chris Forster who’s journey of family reconciliation and development is what YMCA Norfolk is all about.

You can see a video about Chris by clicking here.

Pictured above are all the winners with Tim Sweeting, Christoph Zimmerman, Sheriff of Norwich Ros Brown and General the Lord Richard Dannatt.

Click below to see a full picture gallery of the celebration evening.