We are delighted to share that Kiva, a student from Laurus Cheadle Hulme, has won the Spirit of Manchester Volunteer of the Year Award.
The Spirit of Manchester Awards celebrate and spotlight the excellent work happening in Manchester’s voluntary and community sector.
Kiva has been passionate about giving back to the community from a young age.
After attending the Manchester Young Lives Addy Centre himself, he applied for their Young Volunteering Programme when he was just 12 years old.
Kiva has now been volunteering at the club for over 3 years.
He started by attending weekly training sessions for a few months, then took on the role of a Junior Play Worker.
This led him to become the Head of Youth Voice and Forum.
His voluntary work varies from helping out with fundraising to running football sessions with younger children.
Elaine, Kiva’s supervisor, said:
“Kiva supports with planning, delivering and evaluation of play sessions in a very creative and passionate way. He peer mentors newly registered young people ensuring they feel welcomed and settled.
“I chose him to be nominated for an award because he is an outstanding role model to other young people, inspiring them to volunteer their time and energy for others. He is ambitious, focused and compassionate to others, and his kind personality shines through.”
Kiva was one of 180 nominees from volunteer groups across Manchester.
After being shortlisted, he was invited to a celebratory evening together with the Lord Mayor of Manchester and other important community members.
At this event, inspiring videos of each nominees’ work were shown before the audience voted for who they thought should win.
Kiva was elated to receive the most votes and win the Volunteer Of The Year Award.
Yasmine Dar, Lord Mayor of Manchester, presented the award to Kiva and said:
“I am very impressed with Kiva, he is a lovely polite young man who will do very well in the future.”
We are incredibly proud to hear of Kiva’s unwavering dedication to supporting his community, and are thrilled his hard work has been celebrated and recognised.