Out & About posted on June 21, 2010 14:32
Creating Smiles Everyday
l-r Aston, Charlotte, Terri, Lisa, Stacey, Sadie
A group of disabled young people recently got together to design a collection box for loose change and on 14th June the finished article was launched at a presentation at Out & About’s head office in Claydon. The event was a great opportunity for parents to see the fantastic work their children had achieved and for everyone involved in producing the boxes to see the young people receive their accreditations.
Asten Clarke, Terri Calvesbert, Lisa Chaplin, Charlotte Carey, Stacey Allington and Sadie Palizdar are all young people who have been supported by Out & About to enable them to become included in their choice of leisure activities. Suffolk County Council’s Youth & Connexions Service kindly awarded a grant to Out & About for young people to get involved in the activities of the charity, including fundraising activities and focus groups.
Stephen Skeet, Funding and Development Co-ordinator, Suffolk Youth & Connexions Service said ‘The boxes are absolutely fantastic and it’s clear the young people have put so much time, thought and effort into creating them. It is good to see they have something to show for their hard work. This is exactly the type of thing the Grant was made for and I hope the boxes continue to raise money for disabled young people’
It was part of the Grant conditions that the young people received accreditation for their work and the AQA Award Scheme fitted the bill. The scheme encourages young people to attain their entry level qualification by completing short units of work such as ‘Fundraising for a Charity or cause’.
Maria Mason, Accreditation Officer, Suffolk Youth & Connexions Service was present at the launch and had this to say;
‘This is really what the Youth Service Accreditation scheme is about – this is formal recognition of young people making a positive contribution. These young people have gone the extra mile to produce this fantastic piece of work.’
Helen Read, Keiron Whall, Nicki Durbin and Terry Simnett from Out & About got together with the team of young people in April for a planning day and the young people set to work designing the collection boxes. The young people involved had a great day showing their artistic talents and were totally in charge of making the final design decisions.
Nicki Durbin, Events Co-ordinator, Out & About said ‘I feel privileged to be part of this exciting project. This is what this charity is all about – empowering young people to make their own decisions. So to design something which would benefit other disabled young people was an ideal project which they proved to be passionate about and all six of them showed great creative flair and enthusiasm’
During the evening, the young people were extremely proud to receive their certificates of achievement for the AQA Awards which were presented by Chris Mellor, Trustee of Out & About.
Chris Mellor presents Charlotte Carey with her certificate
If you would like to find out more about the boxes and would like to receive some to display in shops, offices or for collecting loose change at home, please call Nicki Durbin on 01473 839240