Our Head of Programmes Henry Glynn accepted an award on behalf of The Change Foundation this week. It was presented by a leading youth charity on the terrace of the House of Commons.
The occasion was the 14th Inspiration Award, from Kids Count, an organisation aimed at tackling major issues facing young people, while also confronting negative stereotyping of youth. TCF was nominated by Elliot Colburn the Conservative MP for Carshalton and Wallington.
After accepting the Darren Campbell Sports Award – named for a UK Olympic and Commonwealth Games sprint medallist – Henry said: “Sport is an incredibly powerful tool for change.’
“It has been a difficult couple of years for all of us because of the pandemic, and that is especially true among the young people we work with. Throughout the pandemic itself, our team of coach mentors worked tirelessly to provide intensive support the young people we work with. It times where its easy to talk about what divides us, our work over the last 40-years has focused on what is that unites us, and sport is a brilliant mechanism for doing so”
Speaking after the event, Henry said: “We are also celebrating 10-years of our multi-award-winning Street Elite programme, which has seen around 700 young people, who’ve been impacted by serious youth crime, violence and inequality, supported into employment, education or training and the chance to full fill their potential.’
“We ensure that it is the young people themselves that make decisions about their future. As a charity, we keep young people very much at the fore front of everything we do. Although we’re a UK based charity, we’ve worked in 40 countries globally and most recently we’ve returned from working with Ukrainian refugees in Poland. Our Ukraine Refugee Sports Project is now set to expand over the coming months and will be offering opportunities to those who are in immediate need of ways to better their mental and physical health through the power of sport.”
