The Ultimate Reward
December is nearing: the radio is on; and the festive lyrics “I wish it could be Christmas every day!” are filling up cars and homes across the country. But for me, as the Youth Participation Officer for the North West, I’m wishing for something different. Personally, I wish it could be the Children’s awards every single day!
See, this year, I had my Christmas present early. Back in October, we celebrated our Manchester and Liverpool annual Children’s awards. The light, the laughter and the love on the faces and in the hearts of our wonderful young people, is a gift more valuable than the most precious metal. To stand at the front of a crowded room and watch, as little eyes flickered with anticipation for their name to be read out; recognising how truly special they are, is a part of my role which I feel truly honoured to fulfil. This was their time. This was their moment to be the brightest star in the room. Some of our young people danced and laughed, twirled and clapped to a symphony of applause, as they stood to receive their medal, trophy and certificate. Each trophy engraved for them; each certificate bespoke to their own unique achievement. It was a celebration which made me feel like one of the luckiest and most honoured people around.
To witness the happiness of a young person is a reward no currency can buy and was always my main goal when arranging our award ceremonies. In both Manchester and Liverpool, I was tasked with arranging these events as my first big milestone at Rainbow Fostering. On my first induction day in September, I was given this as my first project; my first opportunity to really make a difference. I knew this wasn’t a case of sink or swim. This was special. This was the biggest moment to recognise the lives of our beautiful, looked-after Children and I knew I had to make it special. It was certainly no easy task and the Latin proverb ‘audentes Fortuna iuvat’ or ‘fortune favors the bold’ [as is commonly translated], was at the forefront of each planning step. I wanted to ensure that our Children had the most wonderful time with the most special event.
In Manchester, we jumped, rolled, slid and laughed our way through inflata-nation, an inflatable playground in Trafford. The Children then dined like youth royalty with Pizza and chips, ice creams and cakes! All washed down with unlimited squash and finished off with a balloon and a goodie bag. In Liverpool, our young people flipped and dived, bounced and flew through the air at Air Unlimited, an “air-mazing” trampoline park. Again, indulging in pizza, sweets and slushes to finish off our day!
Every young person at our event was recognised, including the birth family of our incredible foster carers. No one left empty handed, including us, the staff at Rainbow fostering; because the laughter and sheer enjoyment that we witnessed at these events really was the ultimate reward.
Written by Kieren Molyneux, Youth Participation Officer for the North West.
