Clinton was nominated for the award by Anna Rooney for his fantastic commitment towards the Youth Works programme.

Anna said…

Clinton joined us on the first day of our summer HAF programme at Anfield Sports and Community Centre. After a difficult first session, dealing with challenging behaviours from several young people, it did not put him off attending sessions. Clinton is a very well-mannered and polite young person who was initially quiet and reserved during the first few days of the summer programme, however, as the weeks progressed so did his confidence.

Clinton immediately engaged in a wide range of activities, including group games focused on communication and building relationships, however, it was during the sports activities that we were able to see Clinton’s confidence as he came out of his shell. He quickly gravitated toward competitive activities, such as dodgeball and football, where he demonstrated not only his skills but qualities to make a great leader. He empowered his team and proved to be a good role model, setting a positive example by looking out for and supporting other young people.

Beyond the physical activities, Clinton took part in social action sessions, which empowered the young people to discuss issues that our community and generation are facing currently, and to come up with their own project to tackle these issues. Clinton and his group presented a brilliant idea to design t-shirts to raise awareness of racism and knife crime and wear them on a sponsored walk. Clinton's confidence grew significantly throughout the programme, and his willingness to try new things and engage with peers showed clear progress. Clinton formed meaningful friendships with other participants and established a strong rapport with the LFC Foundation staff. He often mentioned how supported he felt and his enjoyment of attending the programme, which played a key role in his overall positive experience.

Clinton made such a positive impact on both young people and LFC Foundation staff during our summer programme, he attended every session with a smile and was a pure joy to be around. Clinton was a fantastic role model and throughout the 4 weeks, he proved to be a great friend to others, supporting another young person who has communication needs and autism and struggled to develop relationships with other young people. Clinton’s parent provided feedback on the improvement in her son's physical and mental health, and I believe this was a result of Clinton's kind-hearted and caring nature, and his eagerness to participate in every activity offered encouraged others too. Furthermore, Clinton has made a positive difference in his community by developing a social action project to tackle knife crime and racism, which we are in the process of implementing.

The summer HAF programme has supported Clinton by opening the door to opportunities for him to engage in other sessions. For example, Clinton’s participation in daily physical activities improved his fitness levels and fuelled his passion for playing football leading him to join other sessions our provision offers, such as Football Fridays.

We are continuing to engage with Clinton as he is attending our weekly youth and football sessions, he is a pleasure to work with and the Youth Works team is excited to see how his growth continues!