Cordelia Davies, a 17 year old from Kidwellyhas won the G4S Educational Achiever Award,asThe Prince’s Trust and TK Maxx & Homesense Awards came to Cardiff for the first time last night.
The Prince’s Trust and TK Maxx &Homesense Awards recognise the achievements of disadvantaged young people in Wales who have succeeded against the odds, improved their chances in life, had a positive impact on their local community, as well as those who have played a part in supporting the work of The Trust across Wales.
Cordelia, 17, from Kidwelly, has two rare disorders, Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome and Kyphoscoliosis, that make her prone to broken bones, joint dislocations and bruising.
“Three years ago I dislocated my knee, fractured my kneecap and tore ligaments. It still hasn’t healed properly and will dislocate 15-20 times a day.”
Her conditions cause her a lot of pain, which made it more practical for Cordelia to be home-educated from the age of five.
“I loved learning from home, but even though I am very sociable, the closer I got to college age, the more I started to worry about fitting in; how things worked, the routine d everything else.”
“I started feeling unsure about my future, so I went to see a careers advisor who suggested I signed up to Achieve.”
Achieve is a programme from The Prince’s Trust that builds the confidence and motivation of young people who are struggling at school.
“To my delight, I really enjoyed Achieve. I liked the structure, the support, and as my confidence grew, I began to realise that achieving qualifications would be possible, despite my disabilities – The other students even voted for me to be their class representative!”
“A while later, my Achieve advisor suggested I should run for Disabled Students Officer at the Student Union elections – and I won! I have been representing students with disabilities on campus ever since and can’t believe what I’ve achieved.”
“My teachers at college and Achieve helped me believe in myself and truly understand my strengths. I hope to be able to empower other young people with disabilities to follow their dreams, starting right now!”
Cordelia has completed her first year at college and has been accepted to take her Art and Design Level 1. She never dreamed this would be possible, and now aspires to become an art teacher.
Speaking at the awards, Cordelia said, “I’m proud and shocked to win the award tonight. It has been an amazing evening. From here, with my increased confidence, I hope to continue campaigning and raising awareness of disabilities and hidden disabilities, now I have been re-elected as The Disabled Students Officer at my college.”
G4S deputy director for HM Prison Parc, Lisette Saunders, said:
“The G4S Educational Achiever Award recognises young people who have overcome significant personal barriers to develop new skills and re-engage with education. Cordelia has certainly achieved this and we are proud to be able to recognise her tenacity and courage with this year’s award.”
Today’s Welsh event was the last in a series of Prince’s Trust events across the UK, celebrating the achievements of more than 70 young people across the UK. The event in Cardiff was hosted by Emma B from Smooth FM and attended by around 300guests, volunteers and supporters of The Trust.
TK Maxx is a Platinum partner of The Prince’s Trust and has been working with them sincesince 2013, becomingone of the Trust’s largest delivery partners of the Get into Retail programme. This two to six week course develops young people’s skills in the retail sector and supports them into positive outcomes in retail.
In 2016 HomeSense, the sister company ofTK Maxx, appointed The Prince’s Trust as their national charity partner. Homesense are supporting The Prince’s Trust Achieve programme which helps vulnerableyoung people achieve in their local communities. Store associates and customers from across Homesense’s 55 storesare raising funds for the Trust through a number of in-store campaigns.
TK Maxx and HomeSense are proud to have helped over 875 young people through the Get into Retail programme, and their sponsorship of the Achieve programme.
Youth charity The Prince’s Trustgives disadvantaged young people the skills and confidence to find a job. Three in four young people helped by The Prince’s Trust move into work, training or education.
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