Levelling the Playing Field has announced the shortlisted nominees for our first ever annual awards!
The awards event takes place at the flagship DECATHLON store in Surrey Quays, London on July 16 and will celebrate staff, role models, leaders and young people from across the LtPF network who have shown dedication, overcome adversity, inspired others and impacted positively on their community.
The awards ceremony itself will be followed by a day of fun, celebration and sport, including virtual reality golf, yoga and tennis on the store's spectacular open-air rooftop courts overlooking Canada Water! Winners will also get vouchers to spend in store and prizes from our funders London Marathon Charitable Trust.
The shortlisted nominees in our five award categories are:
YOUNG CHAMPION OF THE YEAR (most impressive participant from a Levelling the Playing Field specialist partner)
Abdul Malik Onsanya, Reach Up Youth - South Yorkshire
Rene Kroscen, Positive Futures - Gwent
Nicole McSween, InPower Academy - West Midlands
Luis Enache, InPower Academy - West Midlands
Ugo Anosike, Street Soccer London - London
AWESOME COHORT OF THE YEAR (most impressive team or group of participants)
Youth Group, Saalik Youth Project - South Yorkshire
Five-a-side football team, Aptitude - West Midlands
Slovak/Roma young people from Positive Futures in Newport - Gwent
Sellout FC, Sporting Elite - West Midlands
SPECIALIST LEADER OR ROLE MODEL (an inspiring figure within a specialist partner organisation)
Ezekiel Agyeman, Sport 4 Life UK - West Midlands
Martine Smith, Equity Lead at Maindee Primary School - Gwent
Kameron Baines, InPower Academy - West Midlands
Gulraj Powar, InPower Academy - West Midlands
Neeco Chambers, InPower Academy - West Midlands
Imran Ali, Saalik Youth Project (formerly Ellesmere Youth Project) - South Yorkshire
Jack Badu, Street Soccer London - London
SPECIALIST PARTNER OF THE YEAR
Reach Up Youth - South Yorkshire
NPV Football Development - West Midlands
London Thunder Basketball Club - London
Street Soccer London - London
Positive Futures - Gwent
COMMUNITY PARTNERSHIP OF THE YEAR
Newport Live/LtPF partnership in Newport - Gwent
Unbreakables (West Midlands Police and InPower Academy) - West Midlands
Award winners will be chosen by our judging panel which consists of four students from our research partners the University of Birmingham - Isiah Fraser, Aaron Mahoney-Jones, Amy Allman and Felipe Azevedo - as well as Eleanor Grant from our funders London Marathon Charitable Trust.
Levelling the Playing Field project lead Rudro Sen said: "We cannot wait to see all of our shortlisted nominees at DECATHLON in Surrey Quays on July 16! It is going to be a long-overdue celebration of the project's positive impact and the progress we've made so far towards achieving our common goals."
The Levelling the Playing Field awards are delivered in partnership with Decathlon and our funders London Marathon Charitable Trust.
