On Tuesday 3rd February 2015, Samantha Cameron hosted a reception at 10 Downing Street for ‘charity champions’. I was asked to nominate two guests from Amber Valley who I consider to be ‘charity champions’ to attend a reception in their honour at 10 Downing Street. For their fantastic work at Valley CIDS, I nominated Ian Tannahill and Dorothy Whitaker.
It was a pleasure to invite Dorothy and Ian to Samantha Cameron’s Charity Champions Reception to recognise their commitment to the local community. Ian and Dorothy are both so dedicated to helping the local community and they are both great examples of fantastic charity work in our community. I have been so impressed by Ian and Dorothy’s work in the area and I was glad to be able to celebrate it.
After meeting Ian and Dorothy, Samantha Cameron said: “It was a privilege to meet Ian and Dorothy from the Blend Youth Project at 10 Downing Street. Their amazing work is changing the lives of individuals and families across Amber Valley and it was an honour to celebrate their work at the reception for charity champions.”
Ian and Dorothy are from the Blend Youth Project, with two branches, one in Ripley and one in Heanor. The Blend Youth Project was set up six years ago to support young people in the local area. They have been doing fantastic work in our community ever since, making a difference to the lives of young people in Amber Valley.
At the centres, they provide mentoring support and run alternative education projects and personal development programmes for young people facing difficulties and challenges in life or barriers to succeeding in mainstream education. These services have had an extremely positive impact on young people in the local community, thanks to the hard work of Ian and Dorothy at the Blend Youth Project. You can find more information about the services and projects at the Blend Youth Project here.
Of the reception, Ian Tannahill and Dorothy Whitaker said: “It was wonderful to have the opportunity to attend Samantha Cameron’s reception and it is an honour to be considered charity champions in our community. It was great to discuss our work at Valley CIDS in supporting local young people through our Blend Youth Project provision with Mrs Cameron and we thank our MP, Nigel Mills for inviting us to attend.”