Last week our South East region hosted their first ever Young Person Awards Ceremony for 2018.
The awards, which were held on Wednesday 30 May at the beautiful Barnyard venue in Upchurch, Kent, were organised to celebrate all the achievements of our fantastic young people throughout our Kent and Sussex regions as part of their annual summer activity.
With motivational opening speeches from our Managing Director, Lynn Webb and Operations Director, Paul Surridge, the evening kicked off with a “champagne” reception, and awards for every single one of our young people.
The young people were nominated by their foster parents for educational and personal achievements they have made over the past year and were each awarded with a certificate and trophy in front of a packed audience.
Once the awards were handed out, the buffet was open, the DJ was on the decks and our young people tore up the dancefloor. With a bouncy castle, candy floss maker, popcorn machine, magician, photo booth and evening firework display it really was a fabulous evening, made up of fantastic, inspirational people.
Operations Director, Paul Surridge, said: “It was truly wonderful to see the children have such a lovely time and for the staff, foster families and children to relax and enjoy the real party atmosphere. Seeing the children’s face when they came to get their awards will live with me for a long time.”
Here’s what some of our foster parents and young people had to say about the evening:
“Fantastic, amazing evening! We all had a great time. Thank you to all involved at By the Bridge with Cambian, it was fab!”
“Well done everyone, FANTASTIC evening, AMAZING event… feeling proud!”
“I had a wonderful time, so did my Mum, so did my little daughter and I was so proud of my young lady. Let’s do this every year!”
“Loved it… Very enjoyable with the warmest company of people… my boys and I loved it!”
“What an absolutely incredible night with an abundance of incredible people. I feel so privileged to know you all and I’m so glad you all enjoyed it as much as I did!”
“What an amazing evening! It was great to be a part of something so special. The atmosphere was wonderful, everyone looked awesome and it was wonderful celebrating our fantastic young people! Well done By the Bridge.”
“Fantastic event. So nice to have the families and our children/young people celebrating together. Everyone behaved beautifully.”
South East Regional Manager, Karen Heard, said: "I would like to thank the team at The Dairy for their months of hard work in organising the event and also everyone who donated and attended. It was an amazing night and we hope to repeat the experience again."
Once again, a huge thank you to everyone at the South East branch with special thanks to the following:
Heather Skelton – for being an amazing voluntary Master of Ceremonies
Michele Goument, Foster Parent – for her generous donation towards the trophies
Members of the 14 Plus Forum – for helping to make the lovely centrepieces
Alison Capp – for the yummy home made fudge
Krissi Thorp – for the tower of cupcakes
Tracy Knight & Sarah Read – for their wonderful sewing skills
Essex Supplies – for their kind donation
Tapi Carpets – for donating the amazing red carpet
Terry Hussey, London Air Con – for paying for Paul Fowler, the magician
Fiona Reene, Foster Parent – for providing glow stick jewellery for the young people
Cambian Group - for their generous donation for the firework display.
Managing Director, Lynn Webb, added: “At By the Bridge with Cambian we celebrate the achievements of all our children and young people, and acknowledge and appreciate the dedication and commitment from all our Foster Families that make By the Bridge with Cambian such a success.”
View more photos from the event over on our Facebook page HERE
