Haringey youngsters rewarded for their educational achievements

The Club has hosted the annual Haringey Educational Achievement Awards at the London Academy of Excellence, with special guest Ledley King in attendance.

The awards ceremony, which is organised in partnership with Haringey Council Virtual School, rewards young people in the care of the Borough for their personal achievements and educational accomplishments during the past year.

Children are nominated by their social workers, teachers, foster carers and key workers for awards such as the ‘Learning Achievement Award’, ‘Leadership and Responsibility Award’, ‘Community Involvement and Engagement Award’ and ‘Spirit of Enterprise Award’.

Ledley attended the event to hand out awards to the children and congratulate them on their achievements.

The event forms part of the Tottenham Hotspur Foundation’s To Care Is To Do programme, which provides a range of support services to help children in care and care leavers in our local community. The project improves educational attainment, increases employability, develops life skills and promotes healthy and active lifestyles. Care leavers take part in independent living activities, including money management, cooking and DIY workshops, and are sign-posted onto work experience, qualifications and job opportunities.

The Club has recently pledged to support the Care Leavers Covenant, a new government scheme which commits to providing work-based opportunities to young people leaving the care system. More than 50 businesses, charities and every government department in England has signed up in the hope that it will raise career aspirations and improve life skills among care leavers.

Sarah Ebanja, Chief Executive, Tottenham Hotspur Foundation, said: “It’s fantastic to see so many children from Haringey being rewarded for their achievements. We are extremely proud of the work we do to support both children in care and care leavers, and we hope award ceremonies like this help to inspire children to keep working hard and go on to achieve great things.”

Cllr Elin Weston, Haringey Council’s Cabinet Member for Children and Families, said: “These awards are a fantastic opportunity to recognise the achievements and contributions of children in care and care leavers. We heard some incredible stories about our young people and we are extremely proud of each and every one of them. Care leavers and children in care often face huge challenges in their lives and it is vital that we celebrate their successes and offer them all the support we can. We’re committed to delivering opportunities through our virtual school, and we have a range of other measures in place such as support to find housing and jobs and exemption from council tax.”