FURD
FURD volunteer Aaron Allcock, who is currently doing a full-time volunteer placement with us as part of our 'V' programme for 16-25-year-olds, has won the Sheffield United Kickz Volunteer of the Year award. He was presented with his award by former England star Trevor Brooking at Wembley Stadium. Here is Aaron's account of his trip to Wembley:
On the 29th October Kickz held their national awards ceremony at Wembley stadium. The event was a chance for volunteers and youths who attend Kickz projects throughout the country to get rewarded for their efforts and achievements throughout the year by getting certificates.
As well as the actual awards ceremony itself there was many other things also going on, such as dance shows and other performances going on throughout the night. The awards on the night were given out in various different categories ranging from Kickz team of the year to volunteer of the year from each club.
At the start of our day we all meet up with other volunteers. We were accompanied on the minibus with our co-ordinators as well as some of our funding partners. On the way down to London we discussed with the funders our experiences on Kickz and also explained to them a bit more about what we do and what our roles are as Kickz volunteers. We were all really excited about seeing the stadium.
When we got to the stadium we were all amazed at how big it was and how nice it looked. Then when we got inside there was lots of performances going on which were all really good. These included dance and music performances. We also got chance to walk around and meet various different people from other Kickz projects around the country. This gave us chance to tell each other about our Kickz projects and compare the things that we do at our projects. We then got a chance to take a picture with the Premier League trophy which was really good.
I then had to go and find my seat ready for the awards ceremony to start. As I sat watching the awards I started to feel nervous knowing that I was up for an award. When I got my award I was feeling really nervous as I went to collect it but when I had got it I felt proud of myself, and also thankful to Kickz staff for putting me forward for the award. With a few other Kickz clubs winning various other awards I started to think that we need to work really hard in the next year to make sure that at the next awards our project gets short listed for more awards. The night went really well and it was really enjoyable and exciting and was certainly a night to remember.