Inspirational Emily awarded ‘Young Volunteer of the Year’
Wednesday, 12 June 2019
Hundreds of people turned out to see Emily McCabe from Houghton Regis receive her award as Central Bedfordshire’s ‘Young Volunteer of the Year’ at the ‘Cheering Volunteering’ awards ceremony
Hundreds of people turned out to see Emily McCabe from Houghton Regis receive her award as Central Bedfordshire’s ‘Young Volunteer of the Year’ at the ‘Cheering Volunteering’ awards ceremony held at The Grove Theatre, Dunstable on 4 June.
This was the fifth annual event, organised by us, working in partnership with the Volunteer Centres as part of Central Bedfordshire Together, to thank the many volunteers and voluntary organisations across Central Bedfordshire for the often-unheralded work they do to help others in their community.
Her citation read: ‘Emily is an inspirational young person who has used her own life experiences to help others overcome their challenges. She is lead volunteer with Aldwyck Housing Group who offer specialist support and homes for young people, those with disabilities, those who are vulnerable and older people. She, like many young people, was facing confidence issues which she systematically set about addressing through training and work experience. Emily has been volunteering more than three years and now manages six volunteers at a youth project in Houghton Regis. Emily and her team have managed to deliver over 40 accreditation programmes around confidence-building to 40 young people based in Houghton Regis. She works every Friday night in Houghton Regis to help other young people.’
Hafi Rahman Youth and Anti-Social Behaviour Intervention Officer with Aldwyck Housing Group, who nominated Emily said: “Emily was suffering with low self-esteem, so I wanted to give her some responsibilities, enough that she felt comfortable. She did work experience and took courses to give her skills and confidence along the way. She’s worked very hard as a volunteer, and taken on lots of responsibilities, including delivering fantastic courses to other young people. She’s a changed person and it’s been a privilege to see her shine and I’m delighted that her dedication to others has been rewarded in this way.”