PRESTON COLLEGE STUDENT WINS PROUD AWARD

Preston College student Mohammed Azizi has won a Lancashire County Council PROUD award for Positive Choices and Achievement. Mohammed is an English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) student at Preston College and was nominated by his social worker and his independent officer.

Mohammed was nominated for the award in recognition of his hard-work, positive attitude and for dedicating his free time to helping others in the local community by volunteering at a local automotive garage.

Mohammed says: “It was very nice to be nominated. I was surprised to win. I enjoy volunteering at the garage and hope to study automotive technology after I complete my ESOL course. The prize was a £50 voucher and I’m going to use it to take my friends to the cinema as a treat.”

The Awards ceremony was held at Burnley Football Club in February and was attended by other nominees, representatives from the local authority and Preston College staff. Mohammed, accepted his award and thanked everyone for their help and support.

Bobby Smith is Mohammed’s tutor, he adds: ““Mohammed is very passionate about making a difference for young people, taking a leading role in promoting change for young refugees and asylum seekers. It is this commitment to positive change that underlines what type of person Mohammed is, and I have no doubts, that he will continue to be a leading voice in the local community. He deserves the recognition for all the hard work he has put in over the past two years, we are all incredibly proud of his success.”

About the Awards
The Proud Awards are conducted by Lancashire County Council. The following information provides an overview of the awards from their website. You can find out more by visiting their website here.

The awards recognise the successes and contributions made by looked after children and young people, or those who have previously been looked after. A child is ‘looked after’ if they are in the care of the local authority for more than 24 hours. The PROUD awards are a great way to recognise children and young people who have worked hard to change things, to improve the lives of others or shown outstanding spirit.

Positive Choices and Achievement
This award identifies children and young people who have made choices for themselves that help improve their own personal lives in everyday situations and by doing so have felt the benefits and continued to go from strength to strength.
What the judges are looking for: The judging panel are looking for examples where the nominees have made a decision to do things in a more positive or different way and this has had a positive impact on them. They may have achieved something beyond their own expectations and they will have made others proud. This category is about setting goals and achieving them. This could be something that to other’s might seem quite small, but to the nominees will be an achievement in the context of their life and circumstances.