A fundraising cycle ride by young people and youth workers from Lancaster district has won a national award.
Members of the team travelled to the Houses of Parliament in London on Tuesday 21 October to be presented with their award at a ceremony where they were hosted by Lancaster & Fleetwood MP, Eric Ollerenshaw.
Competition for the award was fierce with LYC beating more than 140 other projects from across the UK.
Nik Marsdin, Senior Manager – Young People for the YMCA who took part in LYC, said:
“We are thrilled to have won this award and we hope the profile and support we have received will enable Lancaster Youth Challenge to become an annual programme for local young people.”
The award was in recognition of LYC’s project in 2013 which involved a group of young people and youth workers cycling from Lancaster to Edinburgh over three days.
The young people, aged 16-21 were not in education, employment or training, and lived mainly in the Ryelands, Skerton and Marsh areas of Lancaster.
As well as being a major physical and emotional challenge for the young people, the ride also provided an opportunity for them to prove to themselves and their community that they could achieve great things and do something positive for others.
Their marathon effort raised funds for Unique Kidz and Co, a charity founded locally by two mums of disabled children who developed childcare and social activities for people in the same boat.
Lancaster Youth Challenge is an annual sports and creativity challenge for young people who live in the Lancaster district.
The group have just completed a gruelling 7 day challenge from London to Paris and next year’s LYC will be Coast to Coast – by any means which will include another marathon cycle ride, walking the 3 Peaks in Yorkshire and rowing the length of Lake Windermere, this will be supported by Lancaster University as part of its Cultural Partnership with The Dukes.
The national award included £750 to help finance Coast to Coast and a glass trophy.
Mr Ollerenshaw said:
“Congratulations to everyone at Lancaster Youth Challenge on winning the Gold Award from Sport England, this is fantastic news. It was great to be with the LYC team in Parliament to hear about the good work they do to help disadvantaged young people and enjoy the moment with them as it was announced they had come out top in the country.”
“It’s a fantastic advert for Lancaster and for what can be achieved by such an enthusiastic group of individuals working together across their different organisations.”