Tonight was the v Awards Evening 2009 in Portsmouth – a youth volunteering achievements awards event to celebrate the work done by young people in Portsmouth.
It was run by Solent Youth Action, as we deliver the vinvolved youth programme in Portsmouth, so I went along (originally to watch and lend moral support, but I ended up getting roped into going on stage to present some of the awards and be a guest speaker!).
It was a great evening. Awards evenings can often be dull and repetitive affairs, but I loved this one. I find it inspiring to hear the wide variety of ways that the young people have contributed to their community, and the evening was a great taster of the work that we are doing in the Portsmouth area.
As well as young people talking about their achievements, there were also a few guest speakers from organisations that have supported SYA.
The Operations Manager for Portsmouth Football Club gave a quite surprisingly touching and heartfelt talk about how seriously the football club takes their role in the community and how important it is to them to get involved in serious long terms ways – supporting sustainable projects in meaningful ways, not just turning up for launches and photo opportunities. It’s something I’ve seen in action even just through their support of us, but it was still impressive to hear.
Other guest speakers included a DJ from Express FM, who talked about some of the work that they are doing with vinvolved to help give a voice to young people in the community.
And the leader of Portsmouth City Council, who paid tribute to the impact that young volunteers make to the life of the city.
Oh yeah, and then I rambled on for a few minutes about where SYA came from, how we started and came to grow into Portsmouth – and how important the work in Portsmouth is to us.
Even despite that, it was a successful evening and something for us to all be very proud of. 🙂
Tags: solent youth action, vinvolved