Urban Hero Awards 2012: Special Award for Enterprise

The Special Award for Enterprise goes to Adam Fountain.

Adam was one of South Manchester’s most feared young men, involved in a life of intimidation, violent crime and drug and alcohol abuse from an early age. Following a threat against his life, Adam fled to the North East in 2010. But his problems followed him and he ended up facing two charges of assault during a drunken rampage.

Narrowly avoiding a hefty prison sentence, Adam was sent to do community service on the site of The Message Trust’s new Enterprise Centre. There, he got chatting to our staff who helped him make a serious attempt to get his life back on track. He found a supportive church community and threw himself into helping others.

Over the last few months, Adam has pursued his dream of setting up a small property maintenance business employing other hard-to-reach young men including ex-offenders. His entrepreneurial spirit is a picture of what we hope to achieve with the Message Enterprise Centre.

More coverage of the 2012 Urban Hero Awards.

Watch all of the video testimonies from this year’s Urban Hero Awards.