Samantha Cameron has today hosted a reception at 10 Downing Street for community champions and I was delighted to nominate two guests to join me in attending, in recognition of their fantastic work locally.
Nikki May is the Director for Youth Development & Training at Gateway Growth and leads National Citizen Service (NCS) projects locally, allowing young people to take part in social action projects and build skills for work and life.
Ann-Marie Lawson is the Youth Programme Manager at Groundwork Northamptonshire - a branch of the national charity which supports environmental re-generation. Her role sees her head up 'The JAM Team' which works with the police and local authorities in rapid response to anti-social behaviour. As someone who has seen the work of 'The JAM Team' at first-hand, I am in no doubt that it has contributed greatly to the dramatic fall in anti-social behaviour that we have seen in Corby in recent years.
Both Ann-Marie and Nikki do fantastic work with young people in North Northamptonshire and I cannot praise them highly enough. The National Citizen Service is giving local young people a real chance to build key skills and Ann-Marie's work in Corby has been remarkable over many years. I really was delighted to nominate them both to attend the reception and show off their efforts to Samantha and the many others who attended - we are so fortunate to have so much tremendous community work going on in Corby and East Northamptonshire and long may it continue!