Queens Award for Rochdale Connections Trust

Date published: 18/08/2006

At a glittering ceremony at Rochdale Town Hall Vivian Carter, Chairwoman of Rochdale Connections Trust (RCT) received the Queens Award for Voluntary Service on behalf of RCT from the Lord Lieutenant of Greater Manchester, Colonel Sir John Timmins. Mrs Carter received a certificate signed by The Queen and a commemorative piece of crystal.

The Queen's Award for Voluntary Service (formerly known as The Queen's Golden Jubilee Award) is given for outstanding achievement by groups of volunteers who:

• Regularly devote their time to helping others in the community
• Improve the quality of life and opportunity for others
• Provide an outstanding service

The Awards are presented on behalf of The Queen by the local Lord-Lieutenant or Lieutenant-Governor.

Director/Trustee of RCT John Kay, who is also a Rochdale Online Director said: "I am delighted the charity has been recognised nationally. I now hope local funders will take note of this award winning local charity."

Rochdale Connections Trust supports young people aged 11 – 19 experiencing a range of difficulties including homelessness, family relationship problems, drug or alcohol abuse, criminality and low self-esteem and helps them to overcome their problems and get their lives back on track.

The young people who are helped by the Trust mostly come from the Brimrod and Deeplish, Balderstone, Newbold, Smallbridge amp; Wardleworth and Central amp; Falinge areas, which are among the 10% most deprived wards in the country. The young people are referred to the Trust by local agencies including the Youth Service, The Pupil Referral Unit and individual schools. However, increasingly young people are approaching the Trust directly because they are aware from their peers of the work that the Trust does.

When a young person is referred to the Trust, the Senior Project Manager matches him or her with an appropriate volunteer who will become a mentor to that young person for as long as the relationship is beneficial. The mentors’ then meet with the young person on a regular basis and by providing support, guidance and encouragement gradually gains their trust and confidence. When that stage is reached the young person can then be helped to further develop social and life skills and to undertake appropriate training, return to school or seek employment.  The mentor would then typically continue to support the young person to ensure that the motivation and momentum is sustained.

At the same time the mentor and young person will be assisted by the assigned Trust’s Development Worker who will liaise as appropriate with the relevant statutory agencies to ensure the specialist help is available.

The Trust was set up originally by local Youth Court Magistrates who noticed that many of the youngsters appearing before them did not have a school to attend and that this often led to exclusion from society and a complete loss of self-esteem and self-worth. What makes the Trust so exceptional is the training and dedication of so many volunteer mentors who are prepared to commit so freely of their time, effort, knowledge and experience to help change the lives of the large number of young people who are often so far excluded from society that even relevant agencies find it hard to reach them.