The Prince’s Trust Scotland Celebrate Success Awards 2009
The Prince’s Trust Celebrate Success Awards
honour the achievements of young people supported by The Trust who
have succeeded against the odds, improved their chances in life and
had a positive impact on their local community.
Celebrate Success also recognises the unswerving commitment and
contributions of our volunteers, supporters and staff who help make
a significant difference in the lives of young people throughout
Scotland.
The awards took place at the Glasgow Science Centre and the
event was hosted by top comedian and broadcaster Des Clarke. The
400 guests who attended witnessed the moving and inspiring stories
of the finalists who had been chosen from the 4,000 young people
The Trust supports in Scotland every year. A host of Prince’s Trust
ambassadors were on hand to present the awards and new Scottish pop
band Alto Elite brought the ceremony to a rousing close.
Scottish
Power Educational Achiever of the Year Award
Danielle Durnan
Prior to joining xl, Danielle was known to the local police
force, had run away from home on several occasions and had no
interest in the education system, frequently playing truant from
school and engaging in under-age drinking.
Since joining xl, Danielle’s confidence has flourished, she has
been hugely instrumental in keeping peers motivated and she has
taken the lead in various community based projects.
xl has really helped Danielle to turn her life around and
contribute effectively to her school and local community. Danielle
now volunteers to help at parents' evenings, has helped to teach an
xl class and was the first pupil at her school to achieve a Gold
ASDAN award.
Danielle also completed a placement at Rothesay’s Victoria
Hospital Annexe for the elderly and received such excellent praise
that she has secured a place as bank staff. Danielle plans to study
care at college in the New Year and will continue to be involved
with The Trust through her role as a Young Ambassador.
Capgemini Inspiring
Leader Award
Ian Gibb
Ian is Curriculum Manager for Hospitality, Tourism and Leisure
at Perth College. He is the key link between the college and The
Prince’s Trust.
The Get into model and The Prince's Trust were new to the
college, but Ian fully embraced our values and ethos. He plans,
manages and delivers incredibly innovative and varied programmes to
the Get into Catering course.
Ian works hard to develop a programme that equips young people
with the skills, certification, experience and knowledge they need
for a career in the catering industry.
Ian truly helps young people to achieve, empowering them to
reach their potential. In the past, he arranged for specialist
staff from the Gleneagles Hotel to deliver training and personally
sourced 12 work placements.
Ian has also supported participants to overcome a variety of
issues including alcohol and drug misuse, violence, learning
difficulties and homelessness. Ian has a natural ability to build
trust and rapport with young people and endeavours to develop a
positive working relationship with each individual.
AG Barr
Community Impact Award
Dundee College, Team 52 Perth
Team 52 Perth chose a project that would benefit a large number
of people. No.5 Davie Park is a community flat in Blairgowrie,
Perthshire and offers drop-in facilities and advice to the
community, mum’s groups, homework clubs and community events. As a
result of being so busy the building was in need of
redecoration.
The Team independently secured £500 worth of materials from
Dulux and £50 from B&Q. The walls, doors and skirting
desperately needed repainting and the floors needed attention. The
garden was also unusable, over-grown and full of debris, so the
Team split their time between the internal and external parts of
the flat.
The group created a fresh, clean and welcoming environment as
well as a calming quiet room that is now used for counselling and
meetings. The work the Team carried out encouraged the staff to
apply for additional funding for carpets, furniture and soft
furnishings to finish off their newly decorated rooms. The
refurbished flat has been warmly welcomed by the local community,
and is very much in demand.
CR Smith Prince’s
Trust Staff Award
Fiona Buchanan
Always willing to go the extra mile, Fiona managed a wide range
of fundraising activities including a number of very successful
events, as well as coordinating our supporters and fundraising
volunteers.
She developed great relationships with supporters and managed to
personally recruit 11 celebrity Ambassadors to become involved with
The Trust.
Fiona was an extremely popular member of staff who always had
time for her colleagues. Never afraid of a challenge, Fiona put all
her efforts into any task before her and produced events full of
style and energy. Her enthusiasm for young people is highly
infectious and she was a great addition to the team.
Scotbeef
Breakthrough Scotland Award
Russell Campbell
Russell has lived in Govan all his life and was involved in
gangs and gang rivalries from a young age. He was suspended from
school 16 times and felt his teachers had given up on him.
When his stepdad died, Russell’s world fell apart. His gang
became his family and he started to lead a very dangerous
lifestyle. He hung around the house all day and was involved in
drug and alcohol abuse.
Russell had been unemployed for seven months when he started The
Trust’s Get into Cars programme run in partnership with Arnold
Clark. He was referred to the programme and attended a taster day,
along with 149 other people. Russell was short-listed and offered
what he felt was his only chance.
After completing the six week course, Russell was offered a
modern apprenticeship with the Arnold Clark Group where his
attitude has won him praise throughout the organisation. Russell is
now well and truly on the road to success.
Prestonfield
Volunteer of the Year Award
Alex Linkston
As a huge supporter of The Prince’s Trust, Alex has been
dedicated to helping young people in his area, and as Chief
Executive of West Lothian Council he has been instrumental in
promoting the work of The Prince's Trust to other local authorities
across Scotland.
For over 10 years, Alex has been a much valued volunteer member
of the Edinburgh board. He is practical and has a clear focus on
how to help young people achieve. He passionately believes in
getting a job done! Through Alex's work on the volunteer board, he
has helped raise over £100,000 for young people in Edinburgh and
the Lothians.
No matter who Alex deals with, he treats everyone equally. His
kind manner encourages all to achieve their potential and his
passion for young people really shows in the time he has dedicated
to The Trust over the years. Alex is well respected and valued by
The Trust in Scotland and is renowned for the huge effort he puts
in to every project he undertakes
Martin
Currie, Young Achiever of the Year Award
Robert McAlpine
From an early age, Robert experienced a very turbulent home
life, which resulted in a move to supported accommodation. Robert
soon began to suffer from severe depression and started to use
alcohol and drugs as a means of escape.
In 2007 Robert was convicted of assault and sentenced to two
years in a young offenders institute. He believed he had no future,
but knew that something had to change.
Whilst in prison, his Development Worker allowed Robert to
complete the Team programme on day release. Little did Robert know
how much Team would change his life. He developed confidence and,
after initially being the shy member of the group, he began to
fully embrace the experience.
Robert became enthusiastic and jumped at every challenge. He
developed many new skills and is now motivated and has moved into
further education. Robert is now at Aberdeen College studying film
and is looking forward to a very positive future.