A 23-year-old from Greenwich has been recognised by a community award scheme after "dedicating time and energy to impact the lives of thousands of local young people" during lockdown.
South east London's own Trevor Gomes has been named as the latest winner of the Jack Petchey's Community Awards which recognises exceptional young people helping their community during the outbreak.
In Trevor's case, after the pandemic hit he took a mentoring programme for disadvantaged backgrounds online, and went for working with 15 young people to over 3,000.
The 23-year-old launched ELEVATE in September 2019, a skills developement and mentoring programme designed to equip disadvantaged young people with the skills and knowledge they need for work and higher education.
Lockdown meant that he could not finish in-person training, so Trevor took the pgoramme online.
It was an immediate success, and after partnering with local secondary schools and sixth form colleges, Trevor went from working with over 3,000 young people.
The programme was such a success it has drawn the attention of several companies and influencers to work with Trevor on it.
Clara Gomes, Trevor’s nominator, said: “Trevor has gone above and beyond to make a difference to the community and ensure young people have a voice, feel valued and have the right skills needed to achieve their dreams and goals.”
Trevor himself recently featured in TES Magazine about how he received a scholarship at sixth form and then how the ELEVATE programme has gone on to inspire so many young people.
He said: “This award means a huge amount to me. Across the last few months I’ve dedicated my time and energy to impact the lives of thousands of young people so to be recognised by this amazing award is a great achievement.”
As part of his reward, Trevor received £50 from the Foundation and a letter from Sir Jack to congratulate him on going the extra mile to help others in this lockdown.
Trudy Kilcullen MBE, CEO of the Jack Petchey Foundation said: “At the Jack Petchey Foundation, young people inspire us all the time with the incredible work they do and that has not stopped in the current situation.
"We want to recognise more young people across London and Essex doing inspirational things to help their community and hope these Community Awards will motivate others and truly showcase the positive things young people do every day.”
A young person can be nominated for any actions they are doing to help vulnerable family members, the local area, school or youth group during the covid-19 situation as long as these abide by the government guidelines for social distancing.
These could include: delivering groceries to a vulnerable neighbour, creating content to inspire others (e.g. artwork, videos and blog posts), helping a youth group to adapt their work online, contacting local isolated people on the phone, and supporting a parent/friend keyworker.
The Jack Petchey Foundation has worked with schools and youth groups across Greenwich since 2008 providing £1,242,627 in funding to schools and youth clubs in the local area.
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