Urban Hero Awards 2010: Volunteer Award
A young man from Old Trafford who turned his problematic behaviour around to become a leader among his peers has won the Volunteer Award at the 2010 Urban Hero Awards, presented by Manchester youth charity, The Message Trust.
John McGuinness, 15, was until two years ago regularly being excluded from school and grounded at home. Anger and confusion at the early death of his father led to John making some destructive choices and getting a bad reputation in Old Trafford.
Ben Woodfield from Eden Old Trafford, a youth project run in association with The Message Trust, is John’s youth worker. He explains:
‘We knew John from the age of about 10. He was known in Old Trafford as a little rascal – or words to that effect! – and it was clear that his behaviour was starting to get out of control.
‘We began to get to know him, his mum Barbara and her partner Nick, and gradually John got involved in some of our youth activities.
We saw he was obviously a strong character and had leadership written all over him so we started mentoring him and as he entered his teenage years, we started to see a change. He began to get his head down and realise that some of the decisions he was making weren’t good for him.’
John found himself wanting to to put something back into his community and the Eden team helped to steer him towards suitable opportunities. But his discipline and commitment surprised everyone. Beginning with a regular slot playing in a church band, John began to get involved with his local community on a volunteer basis.
John started taking an active role in the work of Trafford Housing Trust, completing the first stage of an apprenticeship as part of their Repairs team. He also led the way in putting together a proposal for a new permanent play area for children on his estate.
Michaela Baker from Trafford Housing Trust comments, ‘John is inspirational in his commitment to see his local area improve. He gets involved on many different levels – he helps plan programmes, runs litter picks and gets fully involved in decision-making groups – often sitting with people with more experience than him but contributing at the same level.
‘He’s really well thought of within the Trust – people look up to him.’
John recently sat his GCSEs and has secured a place at Trafford College to study plumbing next year. He hopes to continue his work with the Housing Trust alongside his studies.
The Volunteer Award, one of five,was presented at this year’s Urban Hero Awards at Manchester’s Palace Hotel on July 9. The awards recognise young people who stand out as having made major changes in their lives or particularly positive contributions to their communities.
Ben Woodfield explains the reasons the Eden team nominated John:
‘People in the local community have been so impressed by him. He’s proved to us that he’s not just saying he’s changed – there’s real fruit to those words.
‘This is the story of a young guy who has started to make positive decisions in the face of some of life’s harder experiences and in an environment where some of his peers are failing to make those good choices.
‘We’re very hopeful for John’s future and excited about who he’s becoming.’
John’s Award was presented by Mick Spratt, MD of Wigwam Acoustics, the Award sponsor.