Hackney Quest Youth Club awarded £700 to inspire youngsters across Hackney from Santander Foundation

This month (October 2013) the Hackney Empowering Active Team (HEAT) from Hackney Quest Youth Club was awarded a cash grant of £700 to create a Silver Milestone event on 17th December 2013 bringing young people and the community from Hackney together to celebrate 25 years of Hackney Quest and the impact it has made in supporting young people. H.E.A.T is a youth led programme to fundraise, plan, run and evaluate Hackney Quests activity programme and community events – with members age from 14-25 years.  Their Silver Milestone project will be a showcase event of talent from the Club and they plan to run workshops up to the event in photography, drama,  dance, music production and the spoken word so members can develop new skills, build confidence and self esteem. Nine of the members came to City Hall to present their project idea to the ‘City Pitch’ judging panel including Deputy Mayor of London – Victoria Borwick; Keith Moor, Trustee of Santander Foundation; Iqbal Wahhab, OBE – Trustee of the Mayor’s Fund for London; Rosie Ferguson – Chief Executive of London Youth, and Rebecca Roper, a young ‘voice’ representing the Mayor’s Fund for London. The team presented their idea and budget for the event planned for Tuesday 17th  December 2013.  The judges were impressed with their plan to celebrate the past 25 years but to also offer new skills through creative workshops. Victoria Borwick, Deputy Mayor of London, and panel member says:  “I have been incredibly impressed with the entries we have received for City Pitch, in its first year.  These projects are well deserving of this funding, and it is great to see young people inspired to get involved.”