Leicestershire Cares, the award-winning charity dedicated to fostering community engagement and support, held its much-anticipated annual awards night, shining a spotlight on the remarkable volunteers and businesses that have made significant contributions to education in the past year. Kieran Breen, CEO, kicked off the evening with heartfelt thanks and a warm welcome to all attendees.
Joining the team in February, Bella highlighted the successes of the year and expressed gratitude to everyone involved in the employment sessions. "We really couldn’t run them without you," she stated, acknowledging the profound impact these sessions have had on students.
Will Teece, Headteacher of Brookvale Groby Learning Campus, a partner school of Leicestershire Cares, was invited to present the Education awards, symbolizing the strong partnership between the charity and local schools. Mr Teece gave a brilliant speech about the importance of bringing our business volunteers into schools and the impact it has on students. A robust and varied careers education is vital for the growth and development of young people, to show them the world of work and the different opportunities available to them.
The "Business Contribution to Education" award celebrates the invaluable support from businesses that have consistently participated in educational events, significantly contributing to the charity’s mission. Nominees for this prestigious award were Cambridge & Counties Bank, CGI Group, Nelsons Law, and Samworth Brothers, with Cambridge & Counties Bank taking home the honour.
CCB’s involvement in the education project is very important to us as our volunteers are keen to support, train and equip students where they can. Our volunteers enjoy and are keen to share their knowledge and skills to help students develop and achieve their future goals. It’s an opportunity to give back and often this is into the community and schools our colleagues live in and attended themselves.
Suzanne Newport, Cambridge & Counties Bank
Winning the award is a real privilege as the key driver for CCB volunteers being involved is because they have a passion to do this and it’s great to see the positive outcomes from volunteering which in turn encourages other colleagues to volunteer their time.
There are regularly volunteers from Cambridge and Counties Bank at the employment events we run - it is clear that giving back to the community is important to them as a business, and the impact of these volunteering hours on the education project and the young people we support is huge.
Bella Emmerson, Education Project Development Officer