Celebrating Disabled Children, Young People and their Families
Include Me TOO organised the first ever National Community Inspiration Awards for Disabled Children, Young People and their Families which was held on Saturday 28th March at the Hilton Birmingham Metropole Hotel.
Nina Wadia and Winston Ellis hosted the evening which celebrated the finalists abilities, personal journeys, individual’s achievements, providing a evening full of community spirit and inspiration.
The evening was also full of a range of entertainment promoting diversity. Ivory Keys the talented pianist, Amo Singh started the evening celebrations.
Fletch an International Deaf SignSong performer from Wolverhampton. (In other words – A Deaf Popstar!) performed and had all of the guests signing lyrics to the song Perfect by the artist ‘Pink’. Fletch is also an Ambassador for Include ME TOO.
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Cairen Dheensa 18 years old a sibling of a disabled younger brother performed a song he has composed and played his guitar. Cairen started song writing at 16 years old, he finished second in a national Big Break competition out of 600 applicants.
Strictly Wheels aka Paula Moulton and Gary Lyness are the UK’s top competing Wheelchair Dance Sport couple, entertained the audience with their unique dancing.
Having had an unprecedented run of Gold Medals for 3 years at Amateur level in the sport they now compete in top class IPC competition for GB – the only couple to do so. Last year they ranked 15th in the World and 10th in Europe and are just about to start their 2015 competition season. They were also semi finalists on Britain’s Got Talent in 2012.
‘The evening showcased the positive work Include Me Too do throughout the year. It was a honour to perform on the evening and supporting music without barriers. I believe that everyone should have the opportunity to experience music no matter what disability they may have. With 25 years in the industry and performing in a number of venues I have seen vast improvements been made to live music accessibility and welcome the changes as the number of disabled people attending shows/gigs has grown to almost 4 million each year’. said Apache Indian (Include Me TOO Ambassador).
Many guests including the hosts came dressed in blue for the ‘Blue Tie’ event’ as the charity chose the colour ‘Blue’ as the theme, encouraging guests to demonstrate their support for Disabled Children’s Rights.
‘We are delighted all our guests had a fabulous evening at our awards evening. The feedback we have received during and after the event has been amazing and very supportive. We are looking forward to profiling the winners stories during the year and continuing to make progress in increasing disability awareness, acceptance and inclusion.
It has been 25 years since the adoption of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) a international treaty, advocating a change for the realisation of children’s rights.
Include Me TOO decided to mark the 25th Anniversary of the UNCRC by celebrating disabled children, young people and their families by organising and hosting the first ever National Community Inspiration Awards specifically as a platform for them.
We wish to give our heartfelt thanks to our hosts, judges, sponsors and supporters for all their support for this very special event aiming to move forward towards a disability rights respecting society’said Parmi Dheensa (Include Me TOO Founder and Executive Director)
Lists of Winners for National Community Inspiration Awards for Disabled Children, Young People and their Families Awards
Child & Young Person of Courage 3 – 19 years
Thomas Barratt
Child & Young Person of Friendship
Naomi Womack
Child & Young Person of Sport
Aamir Mitha
Child & Young Person Creative Arts Achievement
Honey Parker
Child & Young Person Education Achievement
Fadzie Karima
Inspirational Young Persons award (19 – 25 years old)
Memunah Hassain
Inspirational Mother of the Year
Florence Chaloledwa
Inspirational Grandparent/s of the Year
Tersem Kaur Sangh
Inspirational Father of the Year
Sunny Bains
Recognition Community Award of the year
A2nd Voice
Child & Young Person Brother/Sister
Milan Patel
Recognition of Professional support
Yvette May
Child of Inspiration (Additional Category)
Kereece Wilson
